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UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON LIBRARIES 





Jjlroaiitoap Jflebtebal Hfttarp 

Edited by 

G. G. Coulton and Eileen Power 


m e OTorfe of 
Hiubpranb of Cremona 




Proatoap Jfle&tebal library 

Edited by G. G. Coulton and Eileen Power 
/ 

The Unconquered Knight 

By Gutierre Dia 2 de Gamez 

Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary 
By Johannes Herolt 

The Goodman cf Paris 

By a Bourgeois of Paris, c. 1393 
The Autobiography ofOusdma 

By Ousama Ibn Mounkidh 

The Dialogue on Miracles 

By Caesarius of Heisterbach 

Sir Lancelot of the Lake 

A Prose Romance of the 13th Centuty 

Historical and Other Works 

By Liudprand of Cremona 

Little John of Saintre 

By Antoine de La Sale 

Anecdotes from English MS. Sermons 
Anecdotes of Thomas ofChantimpre 

i 

Published by 


GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD. 



Cfje dBorfes of 
Hiubpranb of Cremona 


gntapobojste 

Htber be Rebus! <&e£ttg d^ttoms! 
Relatto be Hegattone Consftantmopolitana 


Translated for the first time into English with an Introduction by 

F. A. WRIGHT 


Professor of Classics in the University of London. 


Published by 

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD. 
BROADWAY HOUSE * CARTER LANE * LONDON 
1930 





PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY HEADLEY BROTHERS 
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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction i 

Antapodosis (Tit-for-Tat) 

BOOK I 27 

BOOK II 63 

BOOK III IO5 

BOOK IV I39 

BOOK V I73 

BOOK VI 203 

Liber de Rebus Gestis Ottonis (A Chronicle 

of Otto’s Reign) 213 

Relatio de Legatione Constantinopolitana 

(The Embassy to Constantinople) 233 

Index 279 




INTRODUCTION 


I. LIUDPRAND’S LIFE AND TIMES 

Liudprand — the name is variously spelled in Latin as 
Liudprandus, Liutprandus, Liuprandus, Liucius, Leu- 
cius, and in Italian as Liuzo, Liutio, Luzo, Luiso, 
Luizo — was born a.d. 920 at Pavia, the ancient 
Ticinum,thenoneof the moft important and flourishing 
towns in North Italy, a rival to Milan, Verona, and 
even Rome herself. He came of a wealthy and learned 
Lombard family, whose members were closely con- 
nected with the royal service, and when Hugh of 
Arles, King of Italy, decided to send an embassy to 
Constantinople in 927, Liudprand’s father was chosen 
as envoy, the uprightness of his character and the 
urbanity of his language, as his son declares, especially 
fitting him for the poSt. The mission, which was of 
a complimentary nature, was completely successful 
in spite of the faCt that two large hounds, one of Hugh’s 
presents to the Greek emperor, were with difficulty 
prevented from biting their new maSter when for the 
firffc time they saw him wearing a hood. This mishap 
however was more than compensated for by a gift 
which the envoy was able to make on his own account, 
namely two chiefs of the Slavonic tribes, then in 
revolt againCt Romanos, who had attacked the embassy 
at Salonica and had been beaten off with the loss of 
their two leaders. The emperor was hugely pleased 
to get them in his power, and Liudprand’s father 
came back to Italy richly rewarded. 

r 



Introduction 

Soon after his return, however, he was seized by a 
serious malady, and retired to a monastery, where 
after a very short illness he died, leaving behind him 
a wife and one small son. The wife soon married 
again, her second husband, like her firSt, being z 
person of rank and diplomatic experience ; a man, his 
Stepson says, grave and honourable and full of wisdom. 
As for the young Liuzo, he was taken into the royal 
household at Pavia as a singing page, and by the 
sweetness of his voice secured the especial favour of 
the king, who was a passionate lover of music. Unfor- 
tunately, Hugh was also a passionate lover of women, 
and the ladies of easy virtue, such as the three nick- 
named Juno, Venus and Semele, who thronged his 
court, may have given the Studious youth that low 
opinion of female chaStity which appears so frequently 
in his later writings. However that may be, a page 
in Hugh’s palace had unique opportunities for obser- 
ving the weaker side of human nature and muSt have 
been only too well acquainted with the scandals that 
arise when a queen is openly slighted and a succession 
of royal favourites take the place that is properly 
hers. It is certain that the future historian was from 
his early years familiar with the private life of kings, 
and when in 942 Hugh sent a second embassy to 
Constantinople, it was Liudprand’s Stepfather who was 
placed at its head and successfully arranged for the 
despatch of a Greek fleet to Italy and also for a marriage 
between the grandson of Romanos and one of Hugh’s 
illegitimate daughters. 

But by this time Hugh’s fortunes were definitely 
on the wane and his hold on Italy weakening. He had 
never quite recovered from the check he had sustained 
in 932, when at the invitation of Marozia, who was 
then miStress of Rome, he had come to take both the 
lady and the city for himself, but had been compelled 

2 



Introduction 

by a sudden revolt of the Romans under Marozia’s 
son Alberic, to leave a warm bed and slip ignomin- 
iously down the city wall. It was becoming obvious 
to all that Hugh’s real power was over, and that the 
rising ftar was Berengar, marquess of Ivrea, heir 
through his mother Gisla of Berengar I, successor 
through his wife Willa to Boso, marquess of Tuscany. 
Hugh tried to capture and blind him, but Berengar 
escaped into Germany, whence in 945 he marched 
with a small force into Italy and was by everyone 
enthusiastically welcomed. Hugh, in order to save 
something for his son Lothair, was compelled for 
three years to be king only in name and died in 948, 
leaving Berengar nominally guardian to Lothair but 
really ruler of Italy. 

These Stirring events had their repercussion on 
Liudprand’s life. In his teens he muSt have Studied 
zealously, making himself thoroughly acquainted with 
the great classics of Latin literature, and when the 
time came for him to decide upon his career, he chose 
the pen rather than the sword, the cloiSter in preference 
to the camp. As with the drunken Helot and the 
Spartan boy, the wanton pleasures of Hugh’s court 
served to turn him to the narrow path of virtue and 
serious reflection, and when we next hear of the 
quondam singing page, he has entered the church and 
become a deacon at Pavia. The clerical profession 
however, in the tenth century did not preclude a vaSt 
amount of worldly activity, and Liudprand’s parents 
Were both fully alive to their son’s literary talents and 
also determined that he should use them to advantage 
in iftate service. Accordingly Berengar was approached 
and, if we may believe our account, was induced by 
lavish gifts of money to appoint the young man as his 
private secretary and chancellor, “ secretorum conscius 
ac epiftolarum signatory whatever the words may 



Introduction 

mean. King Hugh was dead and Berengar reigned 
in his Stead. 

For a time all went well ; and then there was a 
rift. It became necessary for Berengar in his turn 
to send an embassy to Constantinople, and being “ a 
man Stuffed full of cunning ” he looked about to see 
if he could find an envoy who would make the voyage 
at his own expense. Liudprand’s Stepfather was very 
anxious that his talented Stepson should add a know- 
ledge of Greek to the Latin he already possessed. 
Berengar easily persuaded him that a visit to Con- 
stantinople Was the very thing necessary. The Step- 
father supplied the money for the journey, and 
Liudprand set off down the Po from Pavia on AuguSt 
1st, 949, reached Venice in three days, sailed across 
the Adriatic in company with an envoy from Otto of 
Saxony, who was bound for the same destination, and 
finally arrived at Constantinople on September 17th. 

The embassy was largely a matter of formal courtesy 
and the envoy should have been supplied with hand- 
some gifts for the Greek emperor. But when Liud- 
prand came to examine his baggage, he found that 
all Berengar had thought necessary in the way of 
complimentary presents was a letter to ConStantine 
Porphyrogenitus “packed with lies,” and that there- 
fore he would be obliged to make the cuStomary 
offerings from his own private Store. This he did 
when the time came for him to be received by Con- 
Stantine, the presence of other envoys from Spain 
and Germany compelling him to a generosity he 
scarcely felt. But it is plain that the mean trick 
which he considered Berengar had played on him 
rankled bitterly in his mind, and We need hardly look 
for any other reason than this to account for the ill 
feeling between maSter and servant that arose after 
the latter’s return to Italy. 

4 



Introduction 


The young Lothair died in November, 950, and 
Berengar secured the eleftion of himself and his son 
Adalbert as joint kings. But, as so often happened 
in this period, no sooner had he reached the summit 
of his ambition than his power began to fail. 
His own avarice and the cruel greed of his wife Willa 
alienated many others besides Liudprand, and soon 
a Steady Stream of malcontents began to make its 
way across the Alps into Germany, where Otto of 
Saxony was in course of consolidating his position and 
already thinking of adventures in the south. Among 
these voluntary exiles was Liudprand, who muSt have 
left his native land some time before 956, since we 
know that in February of that year he made the 
acquaintance at Otto’s court of the Spanish bishop, 
Recemund of Elvira, envoy of Abd-ar-Rahman III, 
the greatest of the Umayyad princes, who was then 
making Cordova a rival in splendour to Bagdad. 
Between the Spanish and the Italian cleric a close 
friendship soon sprang up, and it was Recemund who 
advised Liudprand to solace the griefs of the exile, 
which he so often compares to the captivity of the 
Jews in Babylon, by composing a history of his own 
times. In response to this suggestion the Antapodosis 
was begun at Frankfort in 958, reached its third book 
in 960, and was Still in progress in 962. But meanwhile 
Liudprand had added a knowledge of German to his 
Latin and Greek, and by his varied accomplishments 
had commended himself to the favourable notice of 
Otto the Great. As early as 960 it would seem that 
he undertook a mission to Constantinople on Otto’s 
behalf, halting for a time on his way back at the 
island of Paxos, off the coaSt of Epirus. As a reward 
for this and similar services he was given the bishopric 
of Cremona towards the end of 961, and accompanied 
Otto when the latter at laSt decided that the time was 

5 



Introduction 

ripe for him to enter Italy. In Liudprand Otto 
found a skilful and devoted instrument for his Italian 
policy, in Otto Liudprand gained a Staunch and 
powerful proteStor ; and the result of this combination 
of German vigour and Italian subtlety was seen on 
February 2nd, 962, when Otto with his queen Adelaide 
was crowned as Emperor of the WeSt by Pope John XII 
at St Peter’s, and the Holy Roman Empire came into 
existence. 

So far Otto had triumphed ; but he and his minister 
had Still some difficulties to overcome before they 
could be sure of success. The Pope proved unfaithful 
to his compact, and Liudprand’s old employer, 
Berengar, was Still obstinately holding out in the 
Apennines. In 964 therefore, both Otto and Liud- 
prand appeared again in Italy, and with Liudprand 
as his interpreter, for Otto could only speak German, 
the Emperor denounced John’s conduct to a synod of 
bishops and had him deposed from the papacy. Then 
he turned on Berengar, captured him in his caStle 
of St Leo, and sent him and his wife as prisoners to 
Bamberg, where they both died in 966. 

Thus the wheel of fortune brought prosperity to 
Liudprand and disaster to the two enemies who had 
so cruelly oppressed his family ; and after 966 we find 
the name of the Bishop of Cremona continually 
occurring in the records of the time. He was again 
with Otto in South Italy, when the Emperor made his 
unsuccessful attack upon the Byzantine dominions in 
Apulia, and it was very probably at his own suggestion 
that he was sent to Constantinople in June, 968, to 
conclude a treaty of marriage between Theophano, 
daughter of the late Emperor Romanos, and Otto II, 
the emperor’s son. This embassy, rendered fruitless 
by the obstinate cunning of Nicephorus Phocas, of 
whom he draws a life-like portrait in his beSt known 

6 



Introduction 

book the “ Legatio,” kept him away for over half a 
year, and not until 969 did he return in deep disguft 
to his imperial master. 

So we come to the laft two years of Liudprand’s 
life. We learn from legal documents Still extant that 
he was at Cremona in April, 970, and it muff have been 
in the next year that he made his laSt journey to 
Constantinople, probably as a member of the embassy 
that succeeded this time in arranging the marriage 
between Theophano and Otto which he had vainly 
tried to negotiate in 968. Of that journey we only 
know from the curious and very characteristic Latin 
Story given by von Ughelli ( Italia sacra IV. 589) 
which is here translated : — •“ In the days of the moSt 
illuStrious Emperor Otto I there was a certain bishop 
of Cremona named Liuzo of holy memory. He was 
one of the emperor’s chief confidants, a man prudent 
in counsel and filled with the love of God ; and it was 
he who found and graciously brought to Cremona 
the body of the great Saint Hymerius. In the faithful 
execution of the emperor’s orders he had frequently 
to go backwards and forwards from the royal presence, 
and one day it happened that he was in the neighbour- 
hood of Rome. There he was visited by the Bishop 
of Amelia, who had been driven from court by the 
noisy voice of malicious envy and now addressed him 
in mournful tones : ‘ DeareSt father, as the emperor 
has given you the second place of honour in his realm, 
I beg you to lend me your aid. Condemned on a 
frivolous charge and Stricken by a severe and unjuft 
sentence, I have now completely loft the emperor’s 
favour. Have sympathy for my trouble and come to 
my help, and I will give you in recompense any gift 
that you please.’ To turn Liudprand replied : — 
‘ You are the fortunate possessor of the bodies of the 
saints. If you will make me fortunate by giving me 

7 



Introduction 

one of them, I will regain for you the king’s good will.’ 
Thereupon the other said : 4 1 do not dare to satisfy 
your request in this matter : for the bodies of the 
saints are buried under their sacred altars. But I 
have one saint held in high honour by the people of 
this diftridt named Hymerius, and his body lies in a 
wooden cheft. If I were able in some way or other 
to get him for you and you could transport him to 
your own city, I am quite sure that the presence of 
so mighty a saint would bring you happiness.’ After 
this conversation they went at once to the town of 
Amelia and entered the church, pretending in kindly 
cunning that they were going to celebrate the night 
mysteries. Flinging themselves upon the ground in 
prayer they devoted themselves for a long time to 
vows and entreaties, begging favour for their holy 
request, and before their prayers were hardly over 
the whole piece of ground where Saint Hymerius 
was lying trembled and shook. But though the 
bishops were frightened, their credulous hopes drew 
them on, and as the guardians of the church were faft 
asleep they finally flood face to face with the Saint’s 
tomb. They were juft beginning to break open the 
cheft and extract the holy corpse, when one of the 
guards awoke and started shouting — ‘ Get up, brothers, 
get up quickly : they are stealing away the body of our 
Saint Hymerius.’ At that worthy Bishop Liuzo ran 
up to the guard, and giving him some money on the 
spot asked him to Stop his noise. The man saw that 
his own bishop was there, and putting the money in 
his pocket said no more but gave them his assistance. 
So they lifted out the precious body rejoicing and 
doing homage, and after placing the holy members 
in a perfectly clean receptacle they left the town 
unobserved. Bishop Liudprand then returned to 
Cremona with this joyful and longed for gift, and 

8 



Introduction 

entering his city called together the people and showed 
them the body of the blessed Saint Hymerius, while 
they fell down in prayer and gave praise loudly to 
God for bestowing on them such a patron. Later on 
the Saint’s body was laid for the time behind the 
Virgin’s altar, until the worthy bishop should decide 
its final reeling place. But this he was not allowed to 
do ; for soon afterwards the needs of the imperial 
service took him to Constantinople, whence he never 
returned.” 

With that we muffc leave Liudprand. We know 
that he died in January, 972, one year before the 
death of his great mafter the emperor, but whether 
his death took place in Constantinople or in Italy 
soon after his return is quite uncertain. 


II. LIUDPRAND’S WORKS 

Manuscripts of Liudprand’s three books are fairly 
numerous, though few exiSt in the great Italian 
libraries. Liudprand’s own autograph has perished, 
but a copy of it made in Italy by three scribes, one of 
whom knew no Greek, is now in Munich. This MS., 
which bears the inscription, Liber s anile Marie 
sanftique Corbin Frising, was probably once the 
property of Abraham, Bishop of Freising (957-993), 
and it is the archetype from which Becker’s three 
families of MSS., A.B.C. derive. Each of these 
families is represented by one manuscript in the 
British Museum, and upon them modern editors 
depend. The fir£t printed edition of the Antapodosis 
was that of Petit (Paris, 1514), followed by that of 
Hervagen (Bale, 1532). In the next two centuries we 

9 



Introduction 

have Du Breul (Paris, 1603), Duchesne (Paris, 1641) 
and Muratori (Milan, 1723). The firSl complete 
edition of all the works is due to Pertz (Hanover, 1840), 
reprinted in Migne’s Patrologia Latina, vol. cxxxvi 
(Paris, 1853) and revised by Diimmler (Hanover, 
1877). But all these have now been superseded by 
Joseph Becker’s edition (Hanover, 1915)} an excellent 
example of German scholarship at its beSt, to which 
this translation is greatly indebted. 

Rejecting as spurious two or three books that have 
been wrongly attributed to Liudprand, we have three 
genuine works from his pen, the Antapodosis , the 
Gefta Ottonis, and the Legatio. Of these the Legatio 
is the beSt known, and of it there is an English trans- 
lation, fairly accurate but disfigured by some curious 
mistakes, by E. Henderson in Bohn’s Library (“ Selett 
Documents of the Middle Ages” 1896). The Legatio , 
an account of Liudprand’s embassy to Constantinople 
in the reign of Nicephorus Phocas, is a valuable 
document for the social life of Constantinople in the 
tenth century. Of it, Schlumberger makes full use 
in his brilliant Study, “ & epopee byzantine d la jin 
du dixieme siecle ,” and concerning it he says : “ relation 
celebre, qui eSt certainement un des documents 
contemporains les plus precieux sur les evenements de 
cette epoque, le seul qui nous donne les plus piquants 
details sur la cour de Nicephore ... les por- 
traits sont certainement exadts dans leurs contours 
generaux, mais la col ere a aveugle l’dcrivain k un 
point extraordinaire dans 1’ expose des details. II ne 
faut done accepter que sous benefice d’inventaire ses 
perpetuelles injures a l’endroit de tous ceux auxquels 
il a eu affaire a Constantinople . . . ces reserves 

faites on peut considerer d’une maniere gdndrale les 
renseignements fournis par Liutprand comme dtant 
d’une exactitude remarquable.” Not only does the 

10 



Introduction 

Legatio give us a brilliant picture of Constantinople, 
with its palaces, parks and churches, its troops of It ate 
officials and its gorgeous Itate ceremonies, but from it 
also we derive a clear idea of why it was that there was 
so little real intercourse between Conitantinople and 
Weltern Europe during medieval times. It is plain 
that Liudprand and his companions cordially disliked 
Byzantine food, Byzantine drink, Byzantine dress, and 
Byzantine manners ; that they were not allowed to 
ride on horseback through the streets seemed to them 
an insult ; that the palace in which they were lodged 
admitted the air freely was an intolerable hardship. 
Byzantine splendour they thought extravagance, 
Byzantine simplicity meanness. Evidently also in 
dealing with a rough soldier like Nicephorus, the 
cultured Italian prelate was at a disadvantage, and 
his pundtilious regard for ceremony and readiness to 
take offence go far to explain the failure of his mission. 
The Legatio therefore has a psychological as well as 
an historical interest, and as a narrative it is a wonderful 
produdtion. The pen pidture of Nicephorus may be 
quoted as an example : “ A monstrosity of a man, a 
dwarf, fat-headed and with tiny mole’s eyes ; dis- 
figured by a short, broad, thick beard half going gray ; 
disgraced by a neck scarcely an inch long ; pig like by 
reason of the big close briStles on his head ; . . . 

a big belly, a lean posterior, very long in the hip 
considering his short Stature, small legs, fair sized 
heels and feet ; dressed in a robe made of fine linen, 
but old, foul-smelling and discoloured by age ; shod 
with Sicyonian slippers ; bold of tongue, a fox by 
nature, in perjury and falsehood a Ulysses.” 

As regards the Gefta Ottonis, the only fault that 
can be found with it is its brevity, and the fa£t that 
in spite of its title it deals fully with but one episode 
in Otto’s reign. That episode, the deposition of 

n 



Introduction 

Pope John XII, is, it is true, highly important in 
itself and moreover is connected with one of the 
cardinal events in history, the crowning of Otto, as 
Emperor at Rome in 962. To this the opening 
chapters briefly refer and then pass on to the main 
subjedt. In the year 963 Otto received evidence that 
John had summoned Adalbert to Italy and was trying 
to ftir up the Hungarians to invade Saxony, and he 
determined to depose his former ally from the papacy. 
He therefore summoned a synod of the church under 
his own presidency, of whose members Liudprand 
gives a long lift, beginning with the patriarch of 
Aquileia, and descending by way of archbishops, 
bishops, cardinals, minor clergy and Roman magnates 
to the one solitary representative of the common 
people. At this synod charges were brought forward 
againft the Pope of simony, sacrilege, fornication, 
drunkenness, and many minor misdemeanours ; and 
he was summoned to appear and clear himself in 
person. John’s answer was a threat of excommun- 
ication, and a second letter to him could not be 
delivered, as he had prudently left Tivoli for an 
unknown destination. Therefore, since it was impos- 
sible to give the three canonical warnings, Otto in 
person accused John of a breach of fealty to himself, 
and the synod deposed him, electing Leo the chief 
notary in his place. An abortive attempt to regain 
Rome was made by John, an attempt which Liudprand 
with his usual prejudice againft the female sex attri- 
butes to the influence of his lady friends, but it was 
crushed with much bloodshed by Otto, who had 
remained with a few veteran soldiers in the city. A 
second usurper, Benedict, was sent into exile, and the 
record closes with the reinstatement of Otto’s nominee 
as Pope Leo VIII. 

The Antapodosis is considerably the longest of 

12 



Introduction 

Liudprand’s works, in bulk juft three times the size 
of the Legatio and the Gedla Ottonis taken together, 
so that a brief summary of its contents may be useful. 
The period covered by it extends from 887 to 949, 
and the firft three of its six books are concerned with 
events that happened before the author’s time, each 
book being carefully arranged to make a dramatic 
whole. Book I, after a preface addressed to Recemund, 
begins with the Saracens in Provence, and then diverges 
abruptly to Constantinople, with tales of the Emperors 
Basil and Leo. Returning to Europe the narrative 
takes up its main theme, the long Struggle for the 
throne of Italy between Berengar and Wido, better 
known to us as Guido or Guy, a Struggle complicated 
by the intervention of Arnulf, Emperor of Germany. 
A digression to Roman affairs affords opportunity for 
the grim Story of Pope Formosus, and then comes 
the equally Strange episode of the deadly potion given 
to Arnulf by Wido’s wife. Wido’s death leads to the 
appearance of his son Lambert, the hero of this drama, 
and his lamentable end by treachery at Marengo 
brings down the curtain. 

As the firft book of the Antapodosis began with the 
Saracens, so the second book begins with the Hungar- 
ians, the other great scourge of Italy at this period, 
and with their fierce conflicts againSt Berengar I, now 
ruler of Italy. Then we pass into Central Europe and 
are introduced to Henry of Saxony, father of the Otto 
afterwards emperor, who, more fortunate than Beren- 
gar, succeeds in defeating the Hungarians at Merse- 
burg. Returning southwards again we take up the 
fortunes of Berengar, who henceforth becomes the 
chief adfor in the play. An interlude deals with Pope 
John of Ravenna, elevated to the papacy by the 
harlot Theodora, and with the Saracens in South Italy 
defeated by a joint force of Italians and Greeks. So 

13 



Introduction 

we come to the revolt against Berengar led by Adalbert 
and Gislebert, and its complete failure. Berengar’s 
success against these rebels, however, is counter- 
balanced by the arrival of a more powerful rival, 
Rodulf, king of Burgundy, and the unfortunate ruler 
retires to Verona, where his tragical death ends this 
book. 

The firft chapter in Book III explains the title 
“ Antapodosis,” and then we have the highly coloured 
account of the burning of Pavia by the Hungarians in 
924, when Liudprand was a small boy of four. The 
episode of the captivating Ermengarde and the effect 
of her charms on Rodulf leads to the entrance of a new 
hero in Hugh of Arles, whose embassy to Constantin- 
ople gives occasion for another long digression on 
Byzantine affairs and for an account of the rise to 
power of the Emperor Romanos. Hugh’s cautious 
handling of the plot hatched againSt him at Pavia, 
and his rash adventure with the fair Marozia at Rome 
form the next two scenes, and this book comes to a 
happy conclusion with his victory over Arnold, duke 
of Bavaria. 

Book IV brings us to events of which Liudprand has 
personal knowledge, and introduces us to the villain 
of the piece, Berengar, marquess of Ivrea, together 
with his brother Anscar and his wife Willa. Hugh 
for the moment retires into the background and his 
place is taken by Otto of Saxony. With German 
affairs the last two-thirds of this book are entirely 
concerned, and we have an elaborate account of the 
death of King Henry, of the succession of Otto, and 
of the rebellion of his brother Henry againfk him. 
Then a long description of the sacred spear and proofs 
from Scripture that Otto’s triumph was due to God’s 
special favour lead up to the final scene of Henry’s 
defeat. 


14 



Introduction 

Book V takes us back to Hugh, and to his dealings 
with Berengar and Anscar. The latter’s death and the 
escape of Berengar to Otto’s court are described, and 
then Hugh’s second embassy to Constantinople leads 
us eastwards once more for an account of the deposition 
of Romanos by his son and of their expulsion by 
ConSfantine Porphyrogenitus. Then returning to 
Italy the adtion quickens. Berengar marches oyer the 
Alps and is joined by the intriguing bishop Manasses. 
Hugh’s supporters desert and this book ends with the 
villain apparently successful. Book VI is now only 
a fragment of a few chapters describing Liudprand’s 
firSt Byzantine mission, and it is impossible to say 
how the Antapodosis ended. As things Stand the 
Gefta Ottonis may be regarded as the pendant that 
sets forth the ultimate triumph of virtue and defeat 
of vice. 

It will be seen from this analysis that the Anta- 
podosis in its present form has very little to do with 
Berengar II and his misdeeds. The narrative is 
fairly equally divided between Italy, Germany and 
Constantinople, and its chief interest, apart from its 
very great literary skill, is the light that it throws 
upon the condition of Southern Europe in the author’s 
time. A modern reader who has cherished the belief 
that the tenth century was the darkeSt period of a 
dark and barbarous age will find with surprise that 
the Italy of which Liudprand writes was not after all 
much more uncivilized than the Italy of Augustus 
or the Italy of Mussolini. Life was certainly more 
dangerous then than it had been under the Roman 
Empire or than it is to-day; but it was neither 
Stagnant nor mechanical. 

If we read Liudprand carefully we shall discover 
that there are many bright colours in the picture for 
which some historians have used such gloomy hues. 

15 



Introduction 

Hungarians and Saracens may raid and plunder, 
Normans burn Utrecht, and Danes in their long ships 
sail up the Rhine and destroy the great Roman palaces 
in Aix and Treves; but commerce and agriculture 
flourish in spite of these disturbances, and when the 
Hungarian scouts come down into the Lombard 
plains they see such wealth as they never expected 
to behold in this world. Sea-borne trade also goes 
briskly on, and of two of its branches in Italy and 
France Liudprand gives us some curious information. 
The merchants of Amalfi, it appears, specialized in a 
contraband trade with Constantinople. To it they 
exported the oil and fruit of their home country and 
from it they returned with smuggled cargoes of the 
precious purple-dyed cloth which the Byzantine 
authorities thought too good for the reft of the world 
to wear. The merchants of Verdun for their part 
were engaged in a business even more immoral. 
Emissaries from their town searched Northern France 
for well grown boys, and got them from their homes 
by force or fraud or bribery. Once within the walls 
of Verdun their fate was certain ; they were caftrated 
and sent into Spain, and those unfortunates who were 
not absorbed by the Spanish market were taken over- 
seas to Constantinople and disposed of there. 

It may be thought that trades such as the laft two 
mentioned are no very Strong proof of civilization. 
They are not ; but they are evidence of a business 
intercourse between diftant countries which would be 
impossible in a barbarous age. This facility of com- 
munication, foftered by a common language and a 
universal religion, was one of the greateft advantages 
of Liudprand’s time, and it enabled our historian to 
acquire that knowledge of his world which he uses to 
such excellent advantage. 


16 



Introduction 


III. LIUDPRAND AS A WRITER 

Liudprand was a remarkable man, a character in 
the English sense of the word, full of whims and 
idiosyncrasies ; he lived in stirring times and in many 
of the great events of those times he played a prominent 
part ; and thirdly he possessed a keen eye for the 
dramatic and a rare sense of humour. The Style is 
the man, and the triple influence of personality, 
environment and natural genius is plainly evident in 
Liudprand’s writings. A. bishop well versed in the 
Holy Scriptures and able to turn them readily to his 
own purposes, he was equally well acquainted with, and 
equally ready to use such extremely unclerical writers 
as Terence and Horace. A patriotic Italian deeply 
devoted to his native city of Pavia, he was also a 
cosmopolitan traveller who had personal knowledge of 
moSt countries in Central Europe, of all the northern 
coaSts of the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, and 
those parts of Asia Minor that border on Constantin- 
ople. A learned scholar and a brilliant linguist, he 
was also a man of the world and a diplomat admitted 
to the secret councils of kings and emperors, able 
to hold his own with the Caliph’s confidential agents 
and the Byzantine emperor’s eunuch ministers. 

In considering the technical features of his Style, 
there are three points that at once attract attention : 
his habit of mingling prose and verse in narrative ; 
his frequent introduction of quotations, aCtual or 
virtual, from poets and prose authors ; and his 
continual interlarding of Latin with Greek words, 
phrases and sentences. None of the three are complete 
innovations, but they are all three pushed to a degree 
that makes them extremely interesting. 

In matter the Antapodosis is a hiStory, but in form 
it is one of the beSt examples we possess of the Satura, 

x 7 



Introduction 

that peculiar blend of prose and verse which the 
Romans claimed as their chief literary invention. 
Varro under the Republic, Petronius in the reign of 
Nero, Capella and Boethius in the fourth and fifth 
century, Paul the Deacon in the eighth, are all Liud- 
prand’s predecessors in this field. But he Skands out 
conspicuous among them, both for the number of his 
poetical efforts and for the variety of metres he employs. 
In the firft five books of the Jntapodosis there are no 
less than fourteen pieces of original verse, seven of 
them in hexameters, two in elegiacs, one in anapaests, 
one in asclepiads, one in hendecasyllabics, and two in 
the curious varieties of the da&ylic hexameter so 
popular with medieval poets. 

The second point is his love of quotations from the 
classics, a practise that gives us a fairly clear idea both 
of the extent to which Latin authors were read in the 
Middle Ages and also of the comparative popularity 
of their works. For Liudprand, of course, the firSt 
book is the Vulgate, and with the Old and New 
Testaments he is thoroughly acquainted. But it is 
plain also that Virgil, Horace, Terence and Cicero 
were to him familiar friends. Quotations from Virgil 
are very numerous, and his own verse, such pieces, 
for example, as “ The Burning of Pavia ”, follow 
closely on Virgilian lines. Horace comes next after 
Virgil, and passages from the Odes are both given in 
full and also worked into the narrative. Terence is 
an almoSt equal favourite, the references to him often 
implying in the reader an acquaintance with the 
comedies as close as that of the writer himself. Cicero 
does not appear quite so frequently in direSt quotation 
as these three, but his influence is pervasive, as is 
shown by the many allusions to “Tullian eloquence” 
and “Tullian wit”. Occasionally, too, as in the 
great outburst againSt Catiline, “ Quousque abuteris 

r8 



Introduction 

patientia ? ”, Cicero’s words are put into the mouths 
of Liudprand’s speakers. We have quotations also 
from Juvenal, Persius, Ovid, Martial, Lucan and 
Boethius ; indeed of all the great Romans the three 
historians Caesar, Livy and Tacitus are almoSt the only 
writers who are not laid under contribution. 

But the moSt engaging feature of Liudprand’s 
prose Style, for which he has the good authority of 
Cicero and Varro, is his habit of sprinkling his narrative 
with Greek phrases and sentences, writing them firSt 
in Greek, and then in Roman characters, and finally 
giving a Latin translation — “ aSeXpot mi 
adelfi mi, quod interpretatur : nequaquam, fratres, 
nequaquam ”. The two longeSt examples of this 
bilingual manner occur in the third book of the 
Apodosis, the Story of the emperor Romanos and the 
lion (Ch. XXV), which is written throughout in a 
medley of Greek and Latin, and the well-known 
anecdote of Zeus and Hera (Ch. XLI) which is firSt 
given complete in Greek and is then followed by a 
Latin translation. But besides the use of Greek for 
continuous narrative, Liudprand from necessity or 
choice employs a number of single Greek words which 
add to the exotic flavour of his Latin. When he is 
writing of Byzantine life and manners this is almoSt 
unavoidable, for such terms as “ logothetes ”, “ chel- 
andia ”, “ carzimasia ”, have no convenient Latin 
equivalent. Occasionally, moreover, a Roman title, 
transliterated into Byzantine Greek, is transliterated 
again into Latin with curious results. For example, 
“ Adalbertus comis curtis ” might mean “ Adalbert 
of the short hair ” ; but it does not. “ Comis 
curtis ” represents the Byzantine ko^us Kovprrn, which 
itself represents the Latin “ comes cohortis ”, a title 
equivalent to the classical “ praefeftus praetorii ”, the 
officer in command of the household troops. The 

19 



Introduction 

necessities of technical language, however, only account 
for a very small number of the Greek words that 
Liudprand borrows. In most cases they are due to 
sheer caprice and Greek takes the place of Latin purely 
for decorative effedt. “ Philargyria ”, for example, 
replaces “ avaritia ” ; “ entolina ” equals “praecep- 
tum”; “ echmalosia ”, “ cleronomia ”, “ apocrisis ” 
are substituted for “ captivitas ”, “ hereditas ”, “ res- 
ponsio”. How far all this was appreciated by 
Liudprand’s contemporaries is perhaps doubtful ; but 
to a modern the bizarre mingling of the two languages 
is delightful. Unfortunately it is not easy to reproduce 
the effedt in English, and a transposition of the Greek 
into French italics, which is the simplest method, 
gives a result which is neither as Striking nor as 
humorous as the original. However, it has been 
used here in default of anything better; and those 
readers who find my French pas tris idiomatique 
muSt remember that Liudprand’s Greek is in the same 
predicament. 

These peculiarities of didtion give Liudprand’s pages 
a rather Strange look at times, and this Strangeness is 
accentuated by his use of words and constructions not 
found in classical authors. But Liudprand is too good 
a writer to be ever really obscure, and his deviations 
from the normal rules of Latin prose soon cease even 
to attract notice. Occasionally, it is true, a sentence 
will occur which at firSt sight offers some difficulty ; 
and perhaps two examples may be given as an illus- 
tration of what his Latin is like when he diverges from 
his wonted simplicity. The firdt is from the tale of 
Hatto and Adelbert — •“ Adelbertus quidam, non 
quilibet, sed magnus ille heros ” (Ant. II. vi). The 
king’s soldiers had tried to entice Adelbert from his 
cadfcle by a feigned attack — “ Adelbertus itaque pro- 
ludii huiusmodi non solum gnarus, verum etiam 

20 



Introduction 

debriatus, obviam bis tam longe a caftro processerat, 
ut non hunc milites eousque ex adversariis esse 
cognoscerent, quoad eorum cervicibus iStius mucro 
caedis impaciens desaeviret ”. Here debriatus , “ de- 
ebriated ”, an intensive form of inebriated, seems to be 
used in a metaphorical sense, rather like our “ fed 
up ” ; and the colour given to the sentence by the 
unusual word is intensified by the magnificent 
rhythm of its conclusion. The other comes from 
the account of the acrobats seen by Liudprand at 
Constantinople (Ant. VI. ix). “ Venit quidam 
viginti quattuor et eo amplius pedum longitudinis 
lignum sine manuum amminiculis in front e gerens, 
quod cubito a summitate inferius, bicubitum trans- 
versim habuerat 

It should be plain from these details that Liudprand 
is an author well worthy of critical attention, and it is 
a curious commentary on the limitations set to Latin 
Studies in this country that to moSt classical scholars 
he is completely unknown, and that up till now no 
edition or translation of the Antafodosis has appeared 
in our language. Technically his interest is very great, 
but he has other and more convincing claims to 
remembrance, for he is one of the few writers who have 
contrived to make hiStory amusing as well as inStrudtive. 
The Roman conception of hiStory was fundamentally 
unsound ; it began as a bald compilation of annual 
events and it soon degenerated into a biassed expression 
of political sentiments. Even the beSt of Roman 
historians, such men as Livy and Tacitus, are undoubt- 
edly far more preoccupied with the problems of 
literary Style than they are with questions of adtual 
fa6t. Moreover, both Livy and Tacitus, like moSt of 
their countrymen, have a very Strong sense of their 
own dignity and what they consider to be the dignity 
of hiStory, so that humour is almoSt completely 

21 



Introduction 

banished from their pages. Their successors in the 
firSt centuries of our era did their beSt to follow on the 
lines they had laid down, and it was not until the early 
Middle Ages that any writer rediscovered the secret 
of Herodotus’ charm. 

From the standpoint of the Strictly scientific historian 
Liudprand is perhaps rather unsatisfactory, and the 
criticism [passed on him by Mr. Previte-Orton is not 
altogether unjuSt ; — (Cambridge Medieval HiStory III 
160.) ‘If there had survived another business-like 
Italian chronicle, like that of Flodoard for France, 
Liudprand would have earned more gratitude from 
posterity than he does for his vivid narrative, his point ed 
character-sketches and the brush-like abundance of 
“ local colour ” with which he overlays his scanty faCts. 
As it is in his Antapodosis we have a difficulty in 
obtaining a firm foothold for history amid the crumb- 
ling and quaking mass of rancorous, if often contempor- 
ary, gossip which Liudprand loves to heap up. Of 
noble birth, bred at King Hugh’s court, and once 
Berengar II’s secretary, he was in the beSt position to 
give accurate and full information, but he had a soul 
above documents. It is hardly his fault that he 
depended on oral tradition for all events before his own 
time for there seems to have been no Italian chronicle 
for him to use, but he evidently made no record at the 
time and when he wrote rented wholly on a memory 
which rej edted dates and political circumstances and was 
singularly retentive of amorous scandal however devoid 
of probability. He does not even tell in his unfinished 
work the cause and events of his persecution by 
Berengar to which he frequently alludes, while 
sketching with fine precision the diary of his reception 
at Constantinople whither he firSt went as Berengar’s 
envoy. For what interested him he could remember 
and tell to the life. To his credit be it said that he 


22 



Introduction 

was no liar, though he may be found suppressing 
an unpleasant fa<S ; what he heard he told, and 
perhaps we may grant him that he gave a ready, 
and sometimes a determined, belief to the gossip of 
anterooms and the tradition of wrathful factions. 
It is unfortunate, for he was a practical statesman, 
and knew and sometimes reveals, the motives of his 
times.’ 

To impartiality and to a cool and critical examination 
of fadts Liudprand does not pretend ; but as a teller 
of Tories he is very hard to beat. It is not that the 
incidents he relates are always excessively remarkable. 
The number of good tales in the world is notoriously 
small, and the three be£t, The Ring of Gyges, The 
Egyptian Thief, and The Milesian Widow, had been 
told some hundreds of years before his time. Where 
Liudprand excels is in the manner of his narrative, 
for his sly malice gives a Puck-like charm to details 
that in less skilful hands would seem either insignificant 
or offensive. Stories, long and short, are scattered 
lavishly through the Antapodosis, and they are of all 
kinds, romantic, realistic, tragic and broadly comic. 
There is the Arabian Nights fantasy of the Emperor 
Leo and the venal policeman ; there is the Ingoldsby 
Legend of the trick played by the wicked Bishop 
Hatto ; there is the very Rabelaisian anecdote of 
Willa and the hidden belt. If the reader likes grue- 
some horror, he will find it in the ftory of the exhumed 
Pope ; if he likes simple pathos, he can turn to the 
tragic narrative of King Berengar’s unhappy end ; if 
he relishes a touch of Gallic wit, he will delight in the 
ingenious arguments whereby the Greek wife saved 
her husband from a cruel fate. Each of these tales 
is a gem, and though it may seem extravagant praise 
there is really only one historian who is as entertaining 
as Liudprand, and only one Latin author who can 

23 



Introduction 

equal him in brisk and lively narrative. Liudprand 
can hold his own with Herodotus and Petronius, and 
those who love the artful simplicity of the Ionian 
traveller and the vivid realism of Nero’s arbiter of 
fashion will find a worthy companion to them both 
in the Bishop of Cremona. 



ANTAPODOSIS 

Tit-for-Tat 




CONTENTS 

book I 

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Gho£t ? here 
begins the book Antapodosis , Tit-for-Tat, repayment to the kings and 
princes of part of Europe, written by Liudprand, deacon of Pavia, 
en captiviti , an exile in foreign lands, and dedicated to Recemund 


Bishop of Elvira in Spain. 

CHAPTER page 

I Prefatory 31 

II Of the caftle of Fraxinetum and its situation . 33 

III How the Saracens captured Fraxinetum . • 33 


IV How owing to the feuds of the Provencals, the 

Saracens at their invitation laid Provence wafte . 34 

V Who at this time was emperor of the Greeks, what 


kings were ruling the Bulgarians, the Bavarians, 
the Franks, the Saxons, the Swabians and the 
Italians, and who was recognised as Pope of Rome 35 

VI Why the Emperor Leo was called Porphyrogenitus 35 
VII Of the Porphyra Palace and who built it . . 35 

VIII Of Basil’s family history and how the Emperor 

Michael took him to his palace .... 36 

IX Of the malady of the Emperor Michael and how 

Basil killed him and became himself emperor . 36 

X Of Basil’s dream when he saw Our Lord Jesus 
Christ calling him to account for Michael’s death, 
and of the alms that this same Basil made . . 37 


XI How the Emperor Leo was taken prisoner one 
night by his own guards, and not being recognised 
was put in prison and whipped, and how the 
prison warder let him go, and how the emperor 
himself whipped the guards who had not whipped 
him, and gave honour to those who had whipped 
him 37 

27 



Antapodosis 


CHAPTER page 


XII 

Of an excellent trick which the same emperor 
played in the matter of the sleepers and the gold 
coins ........ 

42 

XIII 

Why King Arnulf broke down the barriers and 
let the Hungarians loose ..... 

44 

XIV 

Of Wido and Berengar, who confirmed their 
friendship with an oath and then broke it, and 
why a friendship of this sort can not laft 

46 

XV 

Of Berengar’s appointment as king of Italy after 
Charles’ death ....... 

47 

XVI 

How Wido by his Reward’s fault was reje&ed by 
the Franks ....... 

47 

XVII 

Of Wido’s return to Italy ..... 

48 

XVIII 

Of the battle between Wido and Berengar . 

48 

XIX 

Of the second battle between them and of 
Berengar’s flight 

48 

XX 

Of Arnulf s son Zentebald, whom he sent to Italy 
to help Berengar ...... 

48 

XXI 

How a Lombard killed a Bavarian in battle . 

49 

XXII 

Of King Arnulf, who came to Italy at Berengar’s 
invitation 

5° 

XXIII 

How this same Arnulf took Bergamo and hanged 
Count Ambrose ...... 

So 

XXIV 

Of the people of Milan and Pavia, who came over 
to Arnulf ....... 

So 

XXV 

Of Wido’s retreat before Arnulf .... 

5i 

XXVI 

Arnulf s exhortation to battle .... 

Si 

XXVII 

How Leonine Rome was captured 

5 1 

XXVIII 

How because of Pope Formosus, Arnulf ordered 
many of the Romans to be beheaded . 

5 2 

XXIX 

Why there was ill feeling between Formosus and 
the Romans ....... 

52 

XXX 

Of Pope Sergius, who ordered the corpse of 
Formosus to be exhumed .... 

52 


28 




Tit-for-Tat 


CHAPTER PAGE 


XXXI 

Of Formosus’ dead body, how it was thrown into 
the Tiber by Sergius, and found by fishermen, 
and saluted by the images of the saints 

S3 

XXXII 

How Arnulf besieged a cattle called Strong Cathie 
and how Wido’s wife gave him a deadly potion . 

54 

XXXIII 

Of the mischief done by Arnulf s men 

55 

xxxiv 

Of Arnulf s return and Wido’s attendance . 

55 

XXXV 

How the Italians slighted Arnulf and how Marquess 
Anscar hid himself at Ivrea .... 

55 

XXXVI 

Of Arnulf s shameful death .... 

56 

XXXVII 

Of Wido’s death and the appointment of his son 
Lambert as king ...... 

56 

XXXVIII 

Of Lambert’s expulsion and Berengar’s recall 

57 

XXXIX 

Of Count Manfred, who was beheaded as a rebel 
by Lambert ....... 

57 

XL 

Of Marquess Adalbert and Count Ildebrand, who 
came to fight against Lambert .... 

58 

XLI 

How King Lambert fell upon Adalbert and Ilde- 
brand by night, killed their soldiers, and took 
them alive 

58 

XLII 

How Lambert was killed at Marengo by Hugh, 
son of Manfred, in vengeance for his fathers 



death ........ 

59 

XLIII 

How Berengar obtained the throne after Lambert’s 
death ........ 

60 

XLIV 

A panegyric on King Lambert .... 

61 


29 




BOOK I 


Ch . I. To the reverend Lord Recemund, Bishop 
of Elvira, full of all sandHty, Liudprand, the 
unworthy deacon of Pavia, sends greetings. For two 
years, dearest father, through lack of skill I have 
postponed compliance with your request, when you 
urged me, as one who did not depend on doubtful 
hearsay but had the sure knowledge of an eye-witness, 
to set down the doings of the emperors and kings of 
all Europe. The following considerations deterred me 
from beginning the task ; firstly, my own complete 
lack of eloquence, and secondly, the thought of my 
critics’ jealousy. These men, swollen with super- 
ciliousness and rendered sluggish by much reading, 
possessed, as the wise Boethius says, of a fragment of 
Philosophy’s robe and imagining that they have the 
whole garment, will jeer at me and cry : “ Our 

predecessors have already written so much that soon 
there will be fewer readers than there are books ”. 
And then they will quote the line from the play 1 : — 
“ Nothing can be said to-day, sirs, which has not been 
said before ”. 

To their yelpings I make this reply. Lovers of 
learning are like men sick of the dropsy : as these 
thirffc the more ardently the more water they drink, 
so students, the more they read, the more eagerly seek 
after new knowledge. Let ftudents then, when they 
are wearied by the difficult perusal of Cicero’s wit, 
find recreation in these outpourings of mine. For, 

1 Terence, Eunuchus , Prologue 41. 

31 



Antapodosis 

if I am not mistaken, juft as the eyes are dazzled and 
blinded by the sun’s rays, unless some subffcance 
intervenes to cloud their pure brilliancy, so in the 
case of our academic, peripatetic and ffcoic philos- 
ophers the mind is weakened by the constant ftudy of 
their dodtrines unless it finds refreshment in the 
useful humours of a comedy or in the deledtable 
histories of heroic men. If the accursed rites of the 
pagans of old are thought worthy of description in 
books, although, so far from being helpful, they are 
dangerous even to hear about, why should we pass 
over in silence the campaigns of such great commanders 
as Caesar and Pompey, Hannibal, his brother Has- 
drubal and Scipio Africanus, generals of glorious 
renown, worthy all of equal praise ? In the case of 
these men, when we tell of their righteous deeds we 
can proclaim the goodness of Our Lord Jesus Chriffc ; 
when we tell of their errors we can remind men of 
His saving and correcting hand. 

Let no one be disturbed if I insert in this poor 
record the doings of some weak kings and effeminate 
princes. Almighty God, the Father the Son and the 
Holy Ghoft, is ever one and ever juft. Juflly does 
He overwhelm the wicked, as the reward of their 
crimes ; juftly does he exalt the virtuous, as the 
reward of their good deeds. True, I say, is the 
promise made to the saints by Our Lord Jesus Chriffc : 
“ Beware of him and obey his voice, and I will be an 
enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto 
thine adversaries, and mine Angel shall go before 
thee The voice of wisdom, which is Chriffc, cries 
out also by the mouth of Solomon : — “ The whole 
world shall fight for him againft the foolish That 
this is happening now every day even those who are 
asleep underffcand. I will give one example from the 

1 Exodus xxiii, 21-23. 2 Book of Wisdom v, 21. 

32 



Tit-for-Tat 

man y that exift, and keeping silence myself will allow 
the town of Fraxinetum 1 to speak, a place which, as 
all are aware, lies on the borders of Italy and Provence. 

Ch. II. I imagine, my lord, that you are well 
acquainted with Fraxinetum and know it better than 
I do, since you have the information of those who are 
tributary to your king Abderahamen. But for the 
benefit of the general reader, I will say here that it 
has the sea on one side, and on all others is protected 
by a close undergrowth of caCtus. If anyone gets into 
tins entanglement, he is so impeded by the winding 
brambles, and so stabbed by the sharp points of the 
thorns, that he finds it a task of the greatest difficulty 
either to advance or to retreat. 

Ch. III. But by the mysterious, and since it 
cannot be otherwise, by the juSt judgement of God, 
a band of some twenty Saracens, who had sailed from 
Spain in a small boat, was forced by contrary winds 
unwillingly to land here. These pirates, disembarking 
under cover of night, entered the manor house un- 
observed and murdered — O grievous tale ! — the Christ- 
ian inhabitants. They then took the place as their 
own, and made Moor’s Mount which adjoins the manor 
a Stronghold againSt attacks from their neighbours. 
For their protection they encouraged the caCtus to 
grow even taller and thicker than before, so that now 
if any one Stumbled againSt a branch it ran him through 
like a sharp sword. Finally all access to the hill 
except by one very narrow path became impossible. 
Relying therefore upon this difficulty of approach they 
Started Stealthy raids on all the neighbouring country, 
and sent messengers back to Spain to bring over more 
of their comrades. They praised the land and declared 

1 The modern Garde-Fratnet in Provence. 

33 



Antapodosis 

that the people were of no account ; and so in answer 
to this invitation a fresh band, not more than a hundred 
men, arrived to teffc the truth of their tale. 

Ch. IV, Meanwhile the people of Provence close 
by, swayed by envy and mutual jealousy, began to 
cut one another’s throats, plunder each other’s 
substance, and do every sort of conceivable mischief. 
But inasmuch as one faction by itself was not able to 
satisfy upon the other the demands of jealous indig- 
nation, they called in the help of the aforesaid Saracens, 
men who were as perfidious as they were cunning, and 
in company with them proceeded to crush their 
neighbours. Indeed, not satisfied with murder, they 
turned the whole fertile land into a desert. But let 
us see what good their envy did them. Envy, as a 
certain author 1 says, is always juft, and of it he writes : 

“ Envy its own juft retribution brings 
And &abs its harbourer with poisoned stings.” 

In trying to deceive, Envy is itself deceit’s vi&im ; 
in endeavouring to quench others, its own fire is put 
out. Do you ask what happened ? The Saracens, 
who in themselves were of insignificant strength, after 
crushing one faction with the help of the other, 
increased their own numbers by continual reinforce- 
ments from Spain, and soon were attacking everywhere 
those whom at fir ft they seemed to defend. In the 
fury of their onslaughts they exterminated the whole 
people and left no survivors, so that all the neighbour- 
hood began to tremble. As the prophet says 1 : 
“ One man chased a thousand, and two put ten thousand 
to flight.” How was that ? “ Because their God 

sold them and the Lord shut them up.” 

1 St Jerome, Commentary on Galatians , III, 5. 

2 Deuteronomy , xxxii. 30, 


34 



Tit-for-Tat 

Ch. V. At this time 1 the city of Constantinople was 
ruled by Leo Porphyrogenitus, son of the Emperor 
Basil and father of the present Emperor Constantine 
who is now happily on the throne. That Stout 
fighter Simeon was governor of Bulgaria, a Christian 
but a bitter enemy of his neighbours the Greeks. 
The Hungarians, from whose savage cruelty almoSt all 
peoples have since suffered, but who now by the mercy 
of the moSt holy God and the might of our invincible 
king Otto, as I shall relate more fully, do not even 
dare to mutter in fear, were at that time unknown to 
all of us. They were cut off by the difficult barriers 
generally known as “the closures,” and were not able to 
make their way out either to the south or to the weSt. 
At this same date the moSt mighty king Arnulf, who had 
succeeded Charles surnamed the Bald, was overlord 
of the Bavarians, the Swabians, the Teutonic Franks, 
the Lotharingians and the bold Saxons; but he 
was vigorously opposed by Centebald Duke of the 
Maravani. The two emperors Berengar and Wido 
were fighting for the throne of It aly . F ormosus Bishop 
of Porto was recognized as Pope of Rome, supreme 
and universal. Let me now relate, as briefly as I 
can, what happened in the days of these several rulers. 

Ch. VI. Leo, the mod pious emperor of the 
Greeks, of whom we have made mention above, 
father of the present emperor Constantine Porphyro- 
genitus, had at that time secured peace everywhere 
and exercised over the Greeks a juSt and righteous 
dominion. I call him Porphyrogenitus, not because 
he was born in the purple, but because he was born in 
the palace called Porphyra. And since the subject 
has come up, let me set forth what I have heard of the 
circumStances of his birth. 

Ch. VII. The auguSt emperor ConStantine, from 

1 A.D. 886-91 z. 


35 



Antapodosis 

whom the city of Constantinople gets its name, ordered 
ce palais, this palace, to be built and called it Porphyra. 
His intention was that the successive rulers of his 
noble family should see the light of day firft here, and 
that all the offspring of his line should be called by the 
glorious title of Porphyrogenitus. Some people there- 
fore say that our Con&antine, son of the emperor Leo, 
is his descendant. But the truth of the matter is 
this. 

Ch. VIII. The auguSfc emperor Basil, the present 
emperor’s grandfather, was born of a humble family in 
Macedonia. Under the compelling yoke of pauvretS, 
that is, of poverty, he came down to Constantinople, 
and was for a time servant to an abbe, that is, an abbot. 
The then emperor Michael went one morning to pray 
in the monastery where he was serving, and seeing 
that he was exceptionally comely called the abbe , the 
abbot, and asked him to give him the lad. He then 
took him off to the palace and made him his chamber- 
lain ; and in a little time he became so powerful that 
everyone called him the second emperor. 

Ch. IX. Almighty God is ever juSt, even when He 
visits His servants with a heavy hand. He did not 
allow the emperor Michael to keep his sanity all his 
life; but His purpose was that the mercy of His 
kindness above might equal the severity of His punish- 
ment below. We are told that Michael in his mad 
fits frequently sent off his dearest friends to be beheaded. 
But when he returned to his senses he would ask for 
them again, and unless they were forthcoming would 
order that their executioners, who had only obeyed 
his commands, should be put to death. His servants 
accordingly became alarmed, and when he ordered an 
execution they did not put it into effedt This 
happened several times to Basil, and finally his intimates 
gave him — O shame! — this advice — “The king’s 

36 



Tit-for-Tat 

orders may some day be carried out, if he gives them 
to your enemies, and not to your friends. You had 
better kill him yourself firSt, and take the imperial 
sceptre.” Under the compulsion of fear, and beguiled 
by desire of rule, Basil carried out their suggestion 
without delay. Michael was murdered and Basil 
became emperor in his place. 

Ch. X. A short time afterwards Our Lord Jesus 
ChriSt appeared to him in a vision, holding the hand 
of his former maSter, the emperor, whom he had 
killed, and addressed him thus : — “ Pourquoi avez- 
vous tue votre maitre I’empereur P ” “ Why did 

you kill your master the emperor i ” Awakened by 
the words he realized that he had been guilty of a 
heinous crime, and collecting his thoughts considered 
earnestly what he should do. Finally, comforted by 
our Lord’s acceptable promise of salvation, given by 
the mouth of His prophet , 1 that on the day when the 
wicked man turneth from his wickedness he shall be 
saved, he made confession with tears and groans and 
acknowledged himself a miserable sinner, the guilty 
shedder of innocent blood. He also followed wise 
advice and made friends to himself of the mammon of 
unrighteousness, helping them in this world with 
temporal subsidies that their prayers might release 
him later from the everlasting fires of hell. Moreover 
he built near the palace a wonderful and coStly church 
facing eastwards, which men now call “ La nouvelle 
Sglise ,” “ The new church,” and dedicated it to 
the archangel Michael, that mighty prince of 
heaven, whom the Greeks call general of the celeStial 
hoSt. 

Ch. XI. It would not be out of place to insert in 
this humble record two incidents in which the son of 
this Basil, the auguSt and famous emperor Leo, was 

x Ezekiel^ xxxiii, 12. 


37 



Antapodosis 

concerned : for they are well worth relating and are 
also laughable. The city of Constantinople, which was 
formerly called Byzantium and is now called New 
Rome, Stands in territory surrounded by warlike 
peoples. On the north it has the Hungarii, the 
Pizenaci, the Chazari, and Rusii sometimes called by 
another name Nordmanni, and the Bulgarii who live 
too close for harmony. On the eaSt come the Bagdae, 
and on the south-eaSt the inhabitants of Egypt and 
Babylonia. To the south lies Africa and the island 
of Crete, its own too near neighbour and perpetual 
foe. The other tribes in this quarter of the globe, 
the Armenians, Persians, Chaldaeans and Avasgi have 
been reduced to subjection. 

Now the inhabitants of this city, as they surpass 
the races we have mentioned in wealth, so also surpass 
them in wisdom. As a precaution againSt attacks 
from the neighbouring peoples it is their custom to 
poSt armed soldiers each night at every point in the 
city where two, three, or four roads meet, and assign 
to them the task of keeping watch and ward. If after 
dark the guard catch any one roaming about the 
streets, their orders are to arreSt him at once and give 
him a whipping : he is then to be fettered, kept under 
close watch in prison, and brought up for public 
trial the next day. By this method the city is not 
only protected from foreign enemies but is also secured 
againSt highway robbery. 

One day his majeSty the emperor Leo determined 
to teSt the fidelity and trustworthiness of the guards, 
and so when night fell he left his palace unattended 
and turned his Steps to the neareSt guard poSt. As soon 
as the soldiers sighted him he pretended to be alarmed 
and made as though to run away : they at once caught 
hold of him, and asked him who he was and where he 
was going. “ I am juSt an ordinary man.” he said, 

38 



Tit-For-Tat 

“ and I was on my way to Lave a woman.” “ Very 
well,” the guards replied, “ you shall have a good 
thrashing firft, and then we will keep you under lock 
and key till to-morrow, with irons on your legs.” 
“ Pas si vite , mes freres ” — which being interpreted is 
— “ Nay, brothers, not so quick ”, said the emperor, 
“ Take what I have on me and let me go my way ”. 
He then handed them twelve gold pieces and was at 
once set free. So passing along he came to the 
second poffc, where he was arreHed as before, and 
again escaped, at the price this time of twenty gold 
pieces. At the third poft, however, things were 
different : this time he was not allowed to go on making 
payment : all his money was taken from him, he was 
soundly pommelled and thrashed, put into heavy irons, 
and thrust into prison to appear before the judge on 
the morrow. 

When the soldiers had gone away the emperor 
called to the jailer and said : “ Mon ami ” — which 
means “ My friend ” — “ do you know the emperor 
Leo ? ” “ How could I know him ”, replied the man, 

“when I do not remember ever having seen him 
properly ? Certainly I have gazed at a distance once 
or twice, when he has appeared in public, but I could 
not get close, and it seemed to me then that I was 
looking at a wonder of nature rather than at a human 
being. It would be more to the purpose for you to 
be thinking how to get out of here with a whole skin 
rather than to ask such questions as that. Fortune is 
not so kind to you as she is to him : vous Hes en prison, 
il efl sur son trone P or ; you lie in prison, he sits upon 
his golden throne. I had better fetch some heavier 
irons, these are too light ; then you will not have 
time to think about the emperor.” “ Enough, 
enough,” cried Leo, “ I am his majesty the emperor 
himself : deuce take the hour when I left my place of 

39 



Antapodosis 

honour in my palace ! ” At that the jailer, thinking 
that he was telling lies : — “ Do you expert me to 
believe that you are the emperor, a dirty rogue like 
you who squanders his subStance with loose women. 
Since your education in aerology has been negledted, 
I will give you a little savoir on that subject. Ecoutez 
moi. At this moment Mars is in triangle, Saturn faces 
Venus, Jupiter is square, Mercury is unfavourable to 
you, the Sun is as round as a wheel, and the Moon is 
on the jump : bad luck threatens you and is near at 
hand.” “ To prove that my words are true,” replied 
the emperor, “ as soon as they give the morning signal 
and it is safe for us, come with me to the palace and 
you will see that the omens then will be more favour- 
able. If you do not find that I am welcomed there 
as emperor, you may kill me on the spot. Murder 
itself is not a worse crime than to say I am emperor 
if it is not the truth. Perhaps you are afraid of 
getting into trouble over this : may God do this to 
me and worse, if you are not rewarded rather than 
punished.” 

The jailer at laSt was convinced, and when the 
morning signal was given, he went with the emperor, 
as he had suggested, to the palace. On their arrival 
his companion was received with every sign of respect- 
ful admiration, so that the jailer almost sank into the 
earth with astonishment. The high court dignitaries 
ran up before his eyes, showered compliments upon 
the emperor, took off his shoes for him, and buStled 
about doing various acts of service, while the poor man 
thought that he had better die at once. “ Consult 
the Stars again ”, said the emperor to him, “ and if 
you can declare correctly what luck will attend your 
arrival here, you will prove that you have a real 
knowledge of the augural art. But tell me firSt, 
pray, what is this sudden sickness that has made you 

40 



Tit-for-Tat 

turn so pale ? ” “ Clotho, queen of the Fates ”, 

replied the jailer, “is ceasing now to spin for me; 
Lachesis refuses to trouble to twi£fc the wool ; Atropos, 
the moft cruel of the three, her fingers on the diftaff, is 
only waiting for your majesty’s verdidt to draw the 
threads together and break my life. As for my pale 
face, the reason for it is that my vital force has gone 
from my head and drawn the blood with it to the 
lower parts of my body.” At that the emperor with 
a smile replied : — “ Take your vital force back, and 
with it this four pound bag of gold coins : as for 
myself, do not say a word to anyone except that I 
got away from prison ”. 

He then ordered that the guards who had let their 
prisoner go, and the others who had beaten and jailed 
him, should be brought into his presence. On their 
appearance he said to them : — “ While you were 
keeping guard and watch over the city did you at any 
time come across any thieves or fornicators ? ” 
Those who had taken the bribe said that they had 
seen nothing : the others, who had beaten and jailed 
him, replied: — “ V otre sacre majette ”, that is, 
“ Your sacred majesty gave orders that if your guards 
came across anyone roaming in the streets after dark, 
they were to arreft him, give him a thrashing, and put 
him in jail. In obedience to your commands there- 
fore, moffc reverend lord, laft night we arrested a 
fellow who was intending to scour the brothels, and 
after we had whipped him we put him under lock 
and key, so that we might bring him before your 
sacred majesty.” “ Quick,” said the emperor, “ let 
him be produced : my imperial authority demands 
inftant obedience.” The men hurried off at once to 
fetch their prisoner, and when they were told that he 
had escaped they returned half-dead to the palace. 
They made their report to the emperor, who took off 

41 



Antapodosis 

his cloak and showed them the cruel marks of their 
blows : — “ V enez ici, n’ayez fas feur” said he ; that 
is — “ Come here and do not be afraid. I myself am 
the man whom you flogged and who you think has 
escaped from prison. I am quite sure and certain 
that it was not your emperor but your emperor’s 
enemy that you intended to cudgel. As for these men 
who let me go, not thinking I was the emperor but 
knowing that I was a robber who threatened my life, 
it is not only my majesty’s wish, it is my definite 
command, that they be beaten till they are at death’s 
door and then be deprived of all their goods and 
banished from the city. To you others I give both 
money from my purse and also the property of these 
pernicious rogues.” 

What wisdom Leo displayed your paternal excellence 
will be able to appreciate. After that day his men 
kept diligent watch and even in the emperor’s absence 
thought of him as present with them. He never had 
occasion again to go down from his palace and the 
guard duty was faithfully performed. 

Cb. XII. Another prank which this emperor 
played I think it foolish to veil in silence. The 
palace at Constantinople is guarded by numerous 
companies of soldiers in order to secure the emperor’s 
safety, and every day a considerable sum of money 
is spent upon these men’s pay and rations. Now it 
happened once that twelve of these guards were renting 
in one room from the heat of the day during the 
siesta hour, when it was Leo’s custom to wander about 
the palace. On this occasion, when the twelve men 
I have mentioned had abandoned themselves to 
Lethean slumber, the emperor came into the room, 
artfully opening the door latch with a small piece of 
wood. But one trickster can trap another. Eleven of 
the men were really asleep : the twelfth was awake 

42 



Tit-For-Tat 

although he made a pretence of snoring, and with his 
face covered bp his arms he carefully watched what 
the emperor was doing. Well, the emperor came in 
and seeing that the soldiers were all asleep put a 
pound bag of gold coins into each man’s bosom. He 
then went out again quietly and shut the door behind 
him, expe&ing that when the men woke up they 
would congratulate each other upon their gains and 
wonder how on earth they got there. But as soon 
as he had gone, the one soldier who was awake jumped 
up, took the bags of gold from the sleepers, and 
flored them in his wallet. Then he went quietly 
to sleep. 

In the afternoon the emperor, anxious to know the 
issue of his prank, bade the twelve guards to appear 
before him and addressed them thus : — “ If any one 
of you has been frightened or cheered by a dream 
vision, my authority bids you declare it. Moreover 
if any man on waking saw any ftrange sight, I order you 
to reveal that also To this the soldiers replied 
that they had seen nothing (as indeed was the truth) 
and surprised at the emperor’s order “ silent flood 
with faces set intent ”. 1 Leo, however, thought that it 
Was not out of ignorance but from cunning that they 
were keeping silence, and flying into a passion threat- 
ened them with dreadful punishments if they did not 
speak. Thereupon the one man of the company who 
knew the truth put on a very humble and suppliant 
tone of voice and addressed the emperor : — “ Votre 
grade-use majeHi ”, that is “Your gracious majefty, I 
do not know what these men saw ; I myself had a moft 
deledfable dream ; I only wish it would come often. 
I dreamed, while my comrades, unfortunately for 
them, to-day were really asleep, that I was awake, 
and, as it were, not asleep at all. And lo and behold, 

1 Virgil, Atneid, II, I. 


43 



Antapodosis 

jour Imperial Grandeur secretly opened the door, as 
it were, and entering quietly put a pound bag of 
gold in each of my comrades’ bosoms. In my vision 
I saw your majesty go out again while my comrades 
were ftill asleep, and jumping up at once for joy I took 
the bags of gold from the eleven sleepers and stored 
them in my wallet where there was only one. I did 
not want them to go beyond the ten Commandments 
and be juft eleven, but to join with mine and make 
twelve in memory of the twelve apoftles. May it 
please you, auguft emperor, this vision up to now has 
not frightened me but rather made me cheerful. I 
hope your majefty will not prefer another inter- 
pretation for it. It is a well known fa£t that I am un 
■ -profhHe et venieur des songes, that is, a prophet and 
dream pedlar.” At this the emperor burft into a 
loud guffaw, and admiring the fellow’s skill and caution 
said at once : “ I have never heard before that you 
were un prophite et vendeur des songes, a prophet and 
a dream pedlar. But it is plain from what you say 
that you are a prophet, and you have not beaten about 
the bush ! You could not have the power of keeping 
awake or the skill to draw auspices, unless it were given 
you by divine grace. So whether your interpretation 
is true — as I hope and believe — or false, aussi que 
Lucien, that is, as Lucian tells us of a man, that in his 
sleep he found a great treasure, but when the cock 
woke him there was nothing there ; in either case, 
anything you saw or noticed or discovered, you may 
regard as yours.” With what confusion these words 
filled the sleepers and with what joy they filled the 
watcher, anyone can easily imagine if he puts himself 
in their place. 

Cb. XIII. Meanwhile Arnulf, the ftrongeft ruler 
among the northern peoples, found himself unable to 
overcome the vigorous resistance offered him by the 

44 



Tit-for-Tat 

aforesaid Centebald duke of the Maravani. Accor- 
dingly he broke down — 0 grievous tale ! — the strong 
barriers which, as we have said before, are usually 
called the closures and called in the Hungarians to 
help him, a people greedy, reckless, ignorant of 
Almighty God, acquainted with every sort of crime, 
only eager for carnage and rapine. I use the word 
“ help ” but I should rather say ruin, for when 
Arnulf soon afterwards died these Hungarians proved 
themselves a deadly danger both to his people and to 
all the other nations in the south and weft. What 
happened ? Centebald was beaten, subdued and 
forced to pay tribute : but he was not the only one. 
How blind was King Arnulf’s desire for power ! 
How cruel and accursed did that day prove! The 
bringing down of one weak man brought down sorrow 
upon all Europe. How many women were left widows, 
how many fathers made childless, how many virgins 
debauched, how many of God’s priefts and people 
taken prisoners, how many churches laid wafte and 
lands left desolate ! And all this the result of blind 
ambition ! Have you not read, pray, the words of 
truth i 1 “ What is a man profited, if he shall gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall a 
man give in exchange for his soul ? ” If the ftern 
verdift of the Judge of Truth did not dismay you, the 
common ties of humanity might have given pause to 
your mad desires. You were but a man among men, 
exalted indeed in rank, but like to others in nature. 
Lamentable and piteous is our condition. Beafts, 
birds and reptiles, separated though they be from 
us by reason of their intolerable fierceness or deadly 
venom — -the basilisk, for example, the asp, the rhino- 
ceros and the griffin-creatures whose very aspeft seems 
to threaten death to all — live among themselves in 

1 St Matthew , xvi, 26. 


45 



Antapodosis 

peace and harmony, for they have the same origin and 
are endowed with the same disposition. Man, how- 
ever, formed in the likeness and resemblance of God. 
inffcrufted in God’s law, possessed of reason, so far 
from delighting to love his neighbour, would use all his 
strength in hating him. Let ussee then what John, not 
John who you will, but the glorious virgin, admitted 
to the secrets of heaven, to whom as a virgin Christ 
upon the cross commended the Virgin, His mother ; 
let us see what he said about such men : — “ Whosoever 
hateth his brother is a murderer : and ye know that 
no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him ’V 

But let us return to our subject. After defeating 
Centebald, duke of the Maravani, Arnulf settled 
himself peacefully in his kingdom. The Hungarians 
for their part surveyed the country, and while they 
waited for his end, were already, as was afterwards 
made plain, devising mischief in their hearts. 

Ch. XIV. Meanwhile Charles, surnamed the Bald, 
king of Gaul, exchanged this present life for death. 
In his lifetime two noble and powerful princes from 
Italy had been his vassals, one named Wido, the other 
Berengar. These men, you mud know, were cemented 
by such close bonds of friendship that they had under- 
taken on oath to support each other’s appointment in 
the event of their surviving Charles. Wido was to 
become ruler of Roman France so called, Berengar was 
to have Italy. But the ways of friendship, which in 
divers manners joins the human race together in a 
partnership of aifeftion, are uncertain and unstable. 
In some cases a previous recommendation induces men 
to enter into friendly relations; in other cases the 
link is some similarity of business, trade, profession, 
or military operations. But with all such ties, as 
they come into existence from varying associations of 

1 I St John , iii, i$. 


46 



Tit-for-Tat 

profit, pleasure and necessity, so they are severed 
immediately any occasion of divergence intervenes. 
And there is one kind of friendship which has been 
proved by many examples to be always short lived. 
Those whose friendship is based on a partnership in 
conspiracy can never maintain for long an unbroken 
harmony of purpose. The cunning enemy of mankind 
uses all his energy and skill to break friendship’s bonds 
and make men traitors to their own sworn oath. And 
if some simple soul asks me “ Is there then no real 
friendship ? ” I should answer that real harmony and 
friendship can only exiffc when morals are pure and 
men are of the same purpose and virtuous life. 

Ch. XV. It happened that both these men, Wido 
and Berengar, were absent when King Charles’ funeral 
took place. But as soon as Wido heard of his death he 
set out for Rome without consulting the Franks and 
was anointed there as ruler of all France, the Franks 
in his absence electing Oddo as king. As for Berengar, 
at Wido’s suggestion, in accordance with their sworn 
agreement, he set himself up as ruler of Italy, and Wido 
made his way back to France. 

Ch. XVI. But as he was passing through Burgundy 
and about to enter Roman France so called, he was 
met by some Frank messengers who said they were on 
their way back and that Oddo had been unanimously 
chosen as king. “ We were tired of waiting for you,” 
they declared, “ and we could not do without a king 
any longer.” It is said however that the real reason 
why the Franks did not eledt Wido as king was as 
follows. As he was nearing Metz, which is the 
ftrongeft and mofi famous city in Lothar’s realm , 1 
Wido sent his steward forward to prepare for him a 
regal banquet. The bishop of Metz, as is usual with 
the Franks, offered to provide a sumptuous feaft, but 

1 Lothari regnum = Lotharingen = Lorraine. 

47 



Antapodosis 

in reply to his hospitality the steward said : “ If you 
will only give me a horse to ride on, I will guarantee 
that a third of these dainties satisfy King Wido ”. 
At that the bishop : “ It is not fitting for a man to rule 
over us as king if a cheap ten shilling dinner suffices 
him ”, The result was that the Franks threw Wido 
over and eledted Oddo in his place. 

Ch. XVII. Wido was greatly disturbed by the 
message given by the Frank envoys and was soon in a 
turmoil of thought. There was the kingdom of Italy, 
which he had promised under oath to Berengar, and 
there was the Frankish throne, which he now clearly 
realised he could not secure. He wavered between 
the two for a time, and finally, unable to be king of the 
Franks, he decided to break the oath he had sworn to 
Berengar. He accordingly collected as large an army 
as he could — he had some connections among the 
Franks — and marched hastily into Italy. There he 
made confident overtures to the people of Camerino 
and Spoleto, his kinsmen, and although they had 
supported Berengar’ s cause secured their desertion by 
gifts of money ; and so began adtive hostilities. 

Ch. XVIII. The forces of both parties assembled 
near the river Trebia, five miles from Piacenza, and 
prepared for civil war. In the ensuing battle many 
fell on either side, and finally Berengar took to flight 
and Wido triumphed. 

Ch. XIX. After a few days, however, Berengar 
quickly gathered together a fresh force, and gave Wido 
battle once more on the broad plain of Brescia. The 
carnage was again terrific, and again Berengar escaped 
by flight. 

Ch. XX. Being unable to withstand Wido with 
his inferior numbers, Berengar now asked help from 
King Arnulf , who was, as we have said, a very potent 
monarch, promising that if by the help of his valour 

48 



Tit-for-Tat 

he should beat Wido and win the kingdom of Italy 
he and his people would serve him as his vassals. 
Allured by these high promises King Arnulf sent his 
son Centebald, whom he had had by a concubine, 
with a Strong army to his assistance, and the joint 
forces marched with all haSte on Pavia. Wido, 
however, had protected the little stream called Vema- 
vola, which flows on one side of Pavia, with a palisade 
and detachments of soldiers ; and so this river barrier 
prevented either army from making an attack upon 
the other. 

Ch. XXI. Twenty-one days passed, as we have said, 
and neither side was able to do any damage. One of 
the Bavarians every day used to taunt the Italians 
with cowardice and cry out that they knew nothing 
of horsemanship. Finally, as a crowning insult, he 
leapt into their ranks, knocked a spear out of one man’s 
hand, and returned triumphantly to his own camp. 
Accordingly Hubald, father of Boniface who later on 
in my time became marquess of Camerino and Spoleto, 
anxious to wipe out this insult to his people, put on a 
shield and went out to meet the aforesaid Bavarian. 
This latter, remembering his previous triumph and 
rendered all the bolder thereby, hastened gladly forth 
against him in careless anticipation of another victory. 
Wheeling his horse he now urged him fiercely forward, 
now tugged at the reins and threw him back. Mean- 
while Hubald came Straight on. When they were 
within Striking distance of each other, the Bavarian 
wheeled his horse round as usual and began to turn 
him this way and that, circling in confused windings 
and hoping by this method to baffle Hubald’s attack. 
But as he retreated, intending on his return to deal 
a frontal blow at Hubald, his opponent spurred his 
horse vigorously forward and pierced the Bavarian 
with his lance before he could turn round, the weapon 

4-9 



Antapodosis 

going through the shoulder blades to the heart. 
Hubald then took the Bavarian’s horse by the bridle 
and left the man’s body Stripped of its armour in the 
middle of the river. So having avenged the insult 
offered to his people he returned merrily in triumph 
to his own side. This exploit certainly caused con- 
siderable alarm among the Bavarians and equally 
inspired the Italians with confidence. The Bavarians 
indeed held a council of war, and as Wido offered him 
some pounds of silver Centebald retired to his own 
country again. 

Ch. XXII. Berengar saw his bright prospers thus 
clouded over, and in company with Centebald again 
approached the mighty King Arnulf as a suppliant, 
promising if he would help him, that he would put 
himself and all Italy, as he had undertaken to do before, 
under his control. Arnulf once again was allured by 
these high promises and entered Italy with a very 
large army, Berengar adting as his shield bearer, a 
guarantee of his undertaking and a pledge of his 
fidelity. 

Ch. XXIII. Verona welcomed him gladly and he 
then marched on Bergamo. The people there trusted 
to, or rather were deceived by, their strong fortifications 
and refused to come out againdt him. He accordingly 
pitched his camp and took the city by a vigorous 
assault, cutting down and butchering the defenders. 
As for the Count of Bergamo, a man named Ambrose, 
he had him hung before the city gate in his fineft 
clothes, sword, belt and armlets complete. This 
punishment ffcruck terror into every city and every 
prince. When people heard of it, both ears tingled. 

Ch. XXIV. The people of Milan and Pavia were 
indeed so alarmed by the news that they could not 
endure to wait for his arrival, but sent an embassy 
to him promising to submit to his orders. He 

So 



Tit-for-Tat 

therefore sent Otto, the mighty duke of Saxony — 
grandfather of our moSt glorious and invincible King 
Otto, who is Still alive and happily reigning over 
us — to defend Milan, and himself marched straight to 
Pavia. 

Ch. XXV. Wido, not being Strong enough to 
withstand his attack, began to retreat on Camerino 
and Spoleto. The king pursued him vigorously 
without delay, taking by force any city or caStle that 
offered resistance. There was indeed no fortress, 
however Strong by nature, that was competent to 
resiSt the king’s valour. What wonder, seeing that 
mighty Rome herself, queen of cities, was unable to 
withstand his attack! The Romans refused him a 
peaceful entrance, and so he called his troops together 
and addressed them thus : — 

Ch. XXVI. 

“ My braves, upon whose arms the gold is worn 
Wherewith yon weaklings useless books adorn : 
Chiefs famed in war, now all your courage show 
And let your martial rage fresh Strength beStow. 
No Pompey have we here, no Caesar bold 
Whose sword subdued our ancestors of old. 

The British born 1 took all true sons of Rome 
To his new city and his EaStern home. 

These men know well the fishing rod to wield ; 
They have no Strength to raise the flashing shield.” 

Ch. XXVII. Fired by these words the heroes 
despise life in their desire for glory. Protecting 
themselves with shields and wicker coverings they rush 
in serried bands to Storm the walls. They had 
furthermore prepared a number of military engines, 
when in the midSt of the turmoil under the people’s 
eyes it happened that a little hare, frightened by the 

1 Con&antine was the son of Helena, daughter of a British noble. 

5i 



Antapodosis 

din, started to run towards the city. The soldiers, 
as is their wont, chased the poor creature furiously, 
and the Romans thinking they were rushing to the 
attack flung themselves from the walls. The assailants, 
seeing them in retreat, piled their packs and horses’ 
saddles againlt the walls and mounted over the heaps 
that they thus made. One division found a beam of 
wood fifty feet long and with it battered down one of 
the gates, forming into that part of Rome which is 
called Leonine, where the precious body of Saint 
Peter, chief of the apoftles, refls. Thereupon the 
other diftri&s across the Tiber under compulsion of 
fear bowed their neck to Arnulf’s dominion. 

Ch. XXV 111. At this time the Romans were 
cruelly tormenting their very reverend Pope Formosus, 
at whose exhortation Arnulf had made his way thither. 
Therefore when he entered the city to avenge the 
wrongs done to the Pope, Arnulf gave orders that a 
number of the Roman princes who came in hafte to 
greet him should be beheaded. 

Ch. XXIX. The cause of the quarrel between 
Pope Formosus and the Romans was as follows. At 
the death of Formosus’ predecessor, there was a 
certain Sergius, deacon of the church at Rome, whom 
a certain section of the people eledted as Pope. Another 
influential body however were keenly desirous to 
appoint this Formosus, who was then bishop of Porto 
and a man of real sandlity, well versed in all God’s 
teachings. So at the moment when Sergius ought 
to have been ordained as vicar of the apoftles on earth, 
Formosus’ faction drove him from the altar with loud 
and insulting cries, and made their candidate Pope 
in his £tead. 

Ch. XXX. Sergius then made his way into 
Tuscany to get the help of the powerful marquess 
Adalbert. In this he finally succeeded, and later on, 

52 



Tit-for-Tat 

Formosus being then deceased and Arnulf dead in his 
own country, Adalbert drove out the Pope who had 
been appointed after Formosus’ death and gave his 
place to Sergius. Thereupon the fellow, who was an 
impious wretch and ignorant of sacred doCfcrine, issued 
orders that the body of Formosus should be exhumed 
and that the corpse dressed in prieftly raiments should 
be set upon Peter’s chair, while he proceeded to 
taunt it thus : “ Seeing that you were bishop of 
Porto, why were you so inflated with ambition as to 
claim the world-wide see of Rome ? ” After satis- 
fying his spite in this manner, he stripped the body of 
its sacred vestments, cut off three of its fingers, and 
threw it into the Tiber. He then deposed from their 
positions all the priefts whom Formosus had ordained, 
and performed a second ordination service himself. 
How wrong his conduct was, reverend father, you 
can judge by this faCt. Those men who received the 
apo6folic greeting or benediction from Judas, the 
betrayer of Our Lord Jesus Chrift, before the time of 
the betrayal, were not deprived of their offices after 
the betrayal had taken place and Judas had hanged 
himself, except in some cases where they had disgraced 
themselves by scandalous living. The benediction, 
which Christ’s servants receive, comes not from him 
who is seen but from Him whom no eye can behold. 
“ Neither is he that plant eth any thing, neither he 
that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase.” 1 

Ch. XXXI. What authority and what sanCtity 
Pope Formosus possessed we may infer from the 
following incident. His body was found by some 
fishermen and carried to the church of Saint Peter, 
chief of the apo6U.es, where as it lay in its coffin the 
images of certain saints came to life and saluted it 
with every sign of respeCtful veneration. This 6tory 

1 i Corinthians , iii, 7. 


53 



Antapodosis 

I have frequently heard from some of the moft 
reverend men in Rome. But let us leave this now and 
return to the order of our narrative. 

Ch. XXXII. Though King Arnulf had achieved 
his desire he did not cease hostilities against Wido, 
but setting out for Camerino laid siege to a certain 
caftle, called “ Strong” by name as it was strong by 
nature, where Wido’s wife was then living, Wido 
himself being in some obscure hiding place. This 
Strong Caitle, so well named, he surrounded with 
entrenchments and proceeded to bring up such siege 
engines as were necessary. Wido’s wife was caught in 
a trap from which all hope of escape seemed impossible, 
and so with snakish cunning she began to look about 
for some way to compass Arnulf’s death. She secured 
an interview with one of the king’s intimates, and after 
giving him some handsome presents asked him for 
his help. The man declared that this was impossible, 
unless she surrendered the place to his master ; but 
she persisted in her entreaties, not only promising 
him pounds of gold but actually presenting them to 
him on the spot. She finally begged him to give 
the king his master a certain draught to drink which 
she showed him, one that would not do any harm but 
would soften the king’s cruel temper. As a proof of 
her words she gave the drink in his presence to one 
of her servants, who, after landing in sight for an 
hour, left the room apparently unharmed. At this 
point I may quote Virgil’s true saying : — 

“Accursed thirft for gold, to what fell crimes 
Dost thou not force men’s hearts ? ” z 

Well, the man took the deadly draught from her and 
departing in hafte gave it to the king. Arnulf drank, 
and immediately fell into so profound a sleep that for 

1 Virgil, Aeneid , III, 56. 


54 



Tit-for-Tat 

three days the din of his whole army could not waken 
him. It is said that his friends tried to rouse him, now 
by shouting and now by shaking his body, but that 
though his eyes were open he could neither feel 
anything nor utter any articulate words. He lay 
devoid of understanding and such sounds as he made 
were more like the lowing of oxen than human speech. 
These happenings, of course, brought about the 
retirement of his whole army, and fighting ceased. 

Ch. XXXIII. I believe that it was by the juft 
verdidt of God’s Stern judgment that Arnulf came upon 
this miserable fate. While his power was prospering 
and increasing everywhere, he attributed his success 
to his own merits and rendered not to Almighty God 
the honour that is His due. God’s prieSts were 
dragged off to prison, holy virgins were raped, 
married women were violated. Fugitives found no 
shelter even in the churches ; God’s house was made 
into a market, a place of rioting, of foul geftures and 
merry songs. Women actually came there — O shame- 
ful crime — and publicly offered themselves to men. 

Ch. XXXIV. Arnulf then returned slowly home, 
a very sick man, and King Wido came slowly after 
him. As he was crossing over Monte Bardone, on 
the advice of his counsellors he decided to put out 
Berengar’s eyes and himself rule Italy at his ease. 
One of Berengar’s kinsmen however, who was a 
familiar intimate of Arnulf, heard of the plan and 
informed Berengar without delay. So the intended 
victim handed over to another the lamp, which it was 
his duty to hold before the king, and made his escape 
with all speed to Verona. 

Ch. XXXV. From that time everyone in Italy 
regarded Arnulf with scorn and contempt. On his 
arrival at Pavia there was a fierce outbreak, and so many 
of his men were killed that all the sewers — or as they 

55 



Antapodosis 

call them “ cloacae ” — in the city were choked with 
corpses. Unable to get through Verona he decided to 
return by Hannibal’s old road, that called Bardus, 
over the Great St Bernard, and made his way to 
Ivrea where the marquess Anscar, who had urged the 
citizens to revolt, was then living. Arnulf swore 
sol emnl y that he would not leave the town until the 
people brought Anscar into his presence. Anscar, 
however, was a very timid person, in all respedts like 
the man of whom Virgil speaks 1 : — 

“ A champion with his tongue, and free of purse. 

But cold his hand in war ” ; 

and so he crept from the caftle and hid in some rocky 
caves near the city wall. He did this in order that 
the citizens might lawfully assure Arnulf that Anscar 
was not in the town. The king therefore accepted 
their oath and proceeded on his way. 

Ch. XXXVI. When he arrived at his own country 
he died of a disgusting malady. He was cruel tor- 
mented by the tiny worms that are called lice and 
expired in agony. It is said that these worms bred 
so faSt that no doctor’s care could diminish their 
number. Whether in requital for his heinous crime 
of letting the Hungarians loose he was punished by 
a double affliftion, as the prophet says, or whether 
from his earthly penalty he achieved forgiveness in 
the world to come, we may leave to the wisdom of 
Him, concerning whom the Apoftle says 2 : — ■“ Judge 
nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who 
both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, 
and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and 
then shall every man have praise of God.” 

Ch. XXXVII. This justice of God brought the 
grief of widowhood upon Wido’s wife, who had 

1 Virgil, Aetteid, XI, 338. * 1 Corinthians , iy, 5. 


56 



Tit-for-Tat 

brought death upon Arnulf. For as Wido was 
following close upon Arnulf’s retreat, he departed 
from this life near the river Taro. As soon as Berengar 
heard of his death he came in hafte to Pavia and took 
the throne by force of arms. But Wido’s faithful 
supporters, fearing left Berengar should avenge the 
wrongs they had done him, and relying on the fadt 
that the Italians always prefer to have two kings, so 
that they may keep the one in check by threatening 
him with the other, set up as king the dead Wido’s 
son, a young man called Lambert who was an accom- 
plished youth and of very warlike character. Very 
soon the people began to flock to his side and abandon 
Berengar. He marched on Pavia with a large force 
and Berengar, unable through lack of numbers to 
check him, retired to Verona and remained there in 
peaceful seclusion. After a short time however 
Lambert’s Stridtness made him unpopular with the 
princes, who sent envoys to Verona asking Berengar 
to come to their support, and endeavoured to drive 
Lambert from the throne. 

Ch. XXXVIII. Furthermore in the course of the 
next five years Manfred, the wealthy count of Milan, 
broke out into open war againSt him and not only 
held his own city of Milan but cruelly ravaged the 
surrounding diftridts that were Still loyal to Lambert. 
But the king did not allow his violence to go unpunished 
and often reflected upon the word of the Psalmift : — 
“When I shall have the time, I will give juft judgment.” 
So after a little while he had Manfred convicted and 
put to death on a capital charge ; a verdidt which 
Itruck terror into the hearts of all the Italians. 

Ch. XXXIX. About the same time Adalbert, the 
illustrious marquess of Tuscany and a powerful count 
named Ildeprand tried to Stir up a fresh rebellion 
againft him. Adalbert was a man of such influence 

57 



Antapodosis 

that among all the princes of Italy he alone had the 
title of the “ Rich.” His wife was a woman named 
Berta, mother of the Hugh who was king in my time, 
and it was at her instigation that he Started his wicked 
plot, collecting an army with count Ildeprand and 
marching resolutely on Pavia. 

Ch. XL. Meanwhile King Lambert, who knew 
nothing of all this, was busy hunting at Marengo, 
about forty miles from Pavia. He was in the middle 
of the foreSt, and the marquess and count with a large 
but unreliable Tuscan army were juSl crossing Monte 
Bardone, when he received news of how things Stood. 
Being a man of firm courage and vigorous Strength he 
could not endure to wait for his soldiers to assemble, 
but gathered together about a hundred men who 
were on the spot, and haStened off at full speed to 
meet the assailants. 

Ch. XLI. He had juSt reached Piacenza when he 
heard that his enemies had pitched camp near the 
river Stirione close to the Stronghold where lies the 
precious body of the sacred and venerable martyr 
Domninus. Not knowing what the coming night was 
to bring they had drunk deep and after some foolish 
diversions abandoned themselves to slumber, some 
snoring loudly, others, who had taken too much, 
vomiting in their sleep. The king, who was both 
bold and sagacious, fell upon them in the dead of 
night, Stabbing them to the heart before they could 
wake, and cutting their throats while they Still yawned 
in their dreams. At laSt he came to the heroes who 
Were the leaders of this hoSt. It was not one of their 
own company but the king himself who told them of 
the glorious deed, and sheer terror prevented them, I 
will not say from fighting, but even from running 
away. Ildeprand, it is true, managed to slip off, but 
Adalbert was left hiding in the place where the beaSfs 

58 



Tit-for-Tat 

were tethered. There he was found and brought 
before the ting, who at once addressed him thus : — 
“ Your wife Berta, methints, prophesied with true 
Sibylline inspiration, when she undertook by her skill 
to make you either a king or an ass. She would not or, 
as is more probable, she could not make you a king, 
and so, in order to keep her word, she turned you into 
an ass and drove you into the Stable with the herds 
of Arcady.” Thereupon the others with Adalbert 
were taken, put in chains, carried to Pavia, and 
delivered there into custody. 

Ch. XLII. After this success Lambert again 
betook himself to the chase at Marengo, leaving the 
fate of the prisoners to be settled by the decision of 
the princes. Ah would that his hunting had had wild 
beafts and not kings as its quarry ! It is said that 
while he was chasing boars with his horse on a loose 
rein, he fell and broke his neck. But I would not 
say that it were correct to attach credence to this 
account. There is another ftory of his death which is 
constantly repeated and seems to me more probable. 
Manfred, Count of Milan, whom I mentioned juft 
now, on being sentenced to capital punishment for 
his crimes againft the State and the king, left one son 
Hugh as heir to all his property. Lambert, seeing 
that the youth was of conspicuous beauty and sur- 
passing courage, tried to assuage the bitter grief 
caused by his father’s death by showering favours 
upon him, and admitted him to the privilege of his 
intimate friendship. So, while Lambert was hunting 
at Marengo — there is a very large and beautiful wood 
there which is especially suitable to the chase — it 
happened that while the reft of his followers were 
scouring the thickets in the hunt, the king was left 
alone with this Hugh in a coppice. They were 
waiting for the boar to pass, but as he did not appear 

59 



Antapodosis 

the king at lafb grew weary of the long delay and fell 
asleep for a while, leaving the traitor, in whom he 
trusted, to keep watch and ward over him. While he 
sat there alone Hugh, the king’s guardian, or rather 
the king’s betrayer and murderer, began to think again 
of his father’s death and to forget all the kindness 
that Lambert had shown him. He did not consider 
that his progenitor had been juftly put to death ; he 
did not fear to break the oath he had sworn to his 
king ; he did not blush to be called successor to Judas, 
who betrayed Our Lord Jesus Chrift ; what is worse, 
he did not tremble at the everlasting punishment that 
would be his fate. No ; he took a big piece of wood 
and with a great effort broke the sleeper’s neck. He 
was afraid to use his sword leSt he should be plainly 
revealed as a murderer, and his trick was so far success- 
ful that as there were no sword cuts but plain marks 
of bruises againSt wood, when the body was found it 
was believed that the king had fallen from his horse 
and broken his neck. For many years the truth was 
hidden ; but when in process of time Berengar 
gained the throne and held it firmly without opposition, 
Hugh himself betrayed the crime of which he had been 
guilty, and so the words of the prophet -king were 
fulfilled : — “ The sinner is praised in the desires of 
his heart, and doing iniquity he is blessed But 
he could not have done otherwise, since it is Truth 
itself that says : “ There is nothing hidden that shall 
not be revealed, nothing secret that shall not be made 
known .” 1 

Ch. XLIII. After these things had thus happened 
King Berengar was honoured with the kingly dignity 
he had held before, but now in fuller measure : 
Marquess Adalbert and the others were sent back to 
their own lands. 

1 St Matthew x, 26. 


60 



Tit-for-Tat 

Ch. XLIV. I would fain, dear fatter, write of the 
death of this great king with tears, I would fain shed 
tears over my writing. In him was to be found an 
honeft probity of character, a pure and awe-inspiring 
ffcridfaiess. His body was graced by the bright vigour 
of youth, his mind adorned by the grave sandlity of 
age. He evidently gave more glory to the ffcate than 
the ffcate gave to him. If swift death had not snatched 
him away, he was one who might have followed in 
the path of the Roman Empire and subdued the whole 
world to his forceful sway. 


61 




CONTENTS 

BOOK II 


CHAPTER page 

I How after Arnulfs death his son Louis is made 

king ........ 69 

II The Hungarians hearing of Arnulfs death attack 

Bavaria ........ 69 

III Louis prepares to attack the Hungarians near the 

river Lech ....... 69 

IV The Hungarians set an ambush and win a victory 

over Louis’ army ...... 70 

V Louis retreats, and the Hungarians ravage the 

territories of the Franks, the Saxons and the 
Swabians ...... . 71 

VI Of the rebellion of Count Adalbert, and how he 

was tricked by Archbishop Hatto and beheaded . 71 

VII What advice the scouts gave on their return . . 74 

VIII Why the Hungarians in terror gave up the 

invasion of Italy ...... 75 

IX How the Hungarians returned with a fresh army 

and were met by the Italians .... 75 

X Why King Berengar did not come out to fight 

and why the Hungarians fled from the Italians . 75 

XI The retreating infidels ask peace from the Christians, 

but do not get it ...... 76 

XII Of the preliminary battle, in which the Hungarians 

were victorious and then retreated ... 76 

XIII How owing to their horses’ fatigue the infidels 

waited for the Christians at the river Brenta and 
asked for peace, which was refused ... 76 

XIV The counsel of despair that the Hungarians 
followed, and what they said to one another . 

63 


77 



Antapodosis 


CHAPTER page 

XV How the Hungarians laid an ambush and fell 

upon the Christians and beat them ... 77 

XVI How their victory was due not to their courage but 

to the ChriStians* sins ..... 78 

XVII How at that time Louis, king of the Franks, died 

and Conrad was appointed in his place ... 79 

XVIII Who were his vassal princes, and how among 

them was Henry duke of the Saxons ... 79 

XIX How Henry and the other princes rebelled againSt 
King Conrad and were subdued by him, and how 
Arnold fled into Hungary 79 

XX King Conrad on his death bed exhorts all the 
princes to keep the peace and make Henry king, 
and hands the regalia over to him ... 79 

XXI After Conrad’s death Arnold returns from Hungary 

and prepares to attack King Henry ... 80 

XXII Henry appeases Arnold’s anger by a wise speech . 8 1 

XXIII Arnold at his own men’s exhortation becomes 

Henry’s vassal . . . . . .81 

XXIV The Hungarians hearing of Conrad’s death invade 

Saxony 82 

XXV King Henry rises from his sick bed to oppose 

them ........ 83 

XXVI How he exhorted his soldiers to fight . . . 83 

XXVII Of King Henry’s noble vow .... 84 

XXVIII Of the messenger who reported that the Hungarians 

were at Merseburg ...... 84 

XXIX The Hungarians question their captives concerning 

the war, and send out scouts . . . . 85 

XXX Of the battle againft the Hungarians . . <85 

XXXI Of King Henry’s good advice, and of his victory, 

and how his vi&ory was depi&ed in a painting . 85 

XXXII Of a certain Louis whom the Italians invited to 

rule over them ...... 86 

XXXIII That this was due to the marquess Adalbert, 

son-in-law of King Berengar .... 

64 


86 



Tit-for-Tat 


CHAPTER page 

XXXIV Of the same Adalbert, who was at firft a good man, 

and afterwards became bad .... 86 


XXXV 

XXXVI 

XXXVII 

XXXVIII 

XXXIX 

XL 

XLI 

XLII 

XLIII 

XLIV 

XLV 

XLVI 

XL VII 

XLVIII 

XLIX 

L 

LI 


Of Louis 5 oath given in terror to King Berengar, 
and of his return ...... 

How Adalbert, the powerful marquess of the 
province of Tuscany, at the instigation of his 
wife Berta deserts Berengar and sends for Louis . 

Louis is welcomed by the Italians ; Berengar 
retreats to Verona and is driven out from that city 
by Louis ....... 

Louis sets out for Lucca and is splendidly enter- 
tained by Adalbert ...... 

Louis is seized with envy of Adalbert’s power, and 
Adalbert therefore draws away from him . 

A description of the city of Verona, the river Adige, 
and the bridge over it .... 

How Berengar bribed the city guards at Verona, 
captured Louis there, and put out his eyes . 

Of the Hungarians who at that time were ravaging 
Italy 

Of the Saracens from Fraxinetum, who laid wa£be 
part of Italy and came to Acqui .... 

Of the African Saracens who seized Apulia, Calabria 
and Benevento and made a stronghold on Mount 
Garigliano 

On what occasion the Saracens left Africa . 

How that this was the Lord’s will to serve for our 
corredtion 

How John of Ravenna at that time was recognised 

as Pope 

How he was made Pope by the harlot Theodora . 

Of a certain African, who came to the Pope and 
advised him how to attack the Africans 

How this same African laid an ambush and slew his 

fellow-countrymen 

Of the advice given by Landulf, prince of Benevento 

65 


87 


87 


88 

88 

88 

88 

89 

90 
90 

90 

91 

92 

92 

92 

94 

94 

94 



Antapodosis 


CHAPTER page 

LII How the Pope sent messengers to Constantinople, 
and received help from the Emperor and fought 
againSt the Africans ...... 95 

LIII Of the arrival of the Greeks who build a camp near 

the mountain ...... 95 

LIV How all the Africans were killed or captured, and 
how the glorious apoStles Peter and Paul appeared 
during the fighting ...... 95 

LV Adalbert, marquess of the province of Tuscany, 
dies; his son Wido takes his place, and Wido’s 
mother is captured by Berengar .... 96 

LVI Of the children that Berta is supposed to have borne 

to Adalbert ....... 96 

LVII How many princes joined with Lampert Arch- 
bishop of Milan in rebelling againSt Berengar, and 
why they did so ...... 96 

LVIII Of the count of the palace whom Berengar 
captured and inopportunely entrusted to Lampert’s 
keeping ........ 97 


LIX How Berengar made requisition for the prisoner, 
and why he could not have him 

LX Of Rodulf, king of the Burgundians, who took 
to wife the daughter of duke Bruchard and was 
invited by the Italians to come to them and be 
their king ....... 

LXI How the Hungarians, friends of King Berengar, 
killed Odelric and captured Adalbert the king’s 
son-in-law and Count Gislebert .... 

LXII Of the cunning trick whereby Marquess Adalbert 
cheated the Hungarians and got away at a low 
ransom ........ 

LXIII Of Gislebert, how he was captured, scourged and 
brought before the king, who in compassion let 
him go free with every mark of honour . 

LXIV Of the same Gislebert, who went for King Rodulf 
and brought him into Italy .... 

LXV Of the civil war between Berengar and Rodulf . 

66 


97 

97 

98 

98 

99 

99 

99 



Tit-for-Tat 


CHAPTER pace 

LXVI How Rodulf won the victory by the help of his 

kinsman Boneface ...... ioo 

LXVII Rodulf with the consent of the Italians returns to 

Burgundy ....... ioi 

LXVIII Of the people of Verona who plotted to kill 

Berengar ........ ioi 

LXIX The wise speech of King Berengar to Flambert . ioi 

LXX Of the golden cup given to Flambert by the king . 102 

LXXI How at Flambert’s instigation King Berengar was 

murdered ....... 102 

LXXII Of the king’s blood which even to-day is to be 

seen on the pavement ..... 103 

LXXIII Of Milo, Berengar’s vassal, who avenged his mailer 
and hanged his murderers three days after their 
crime ........ 103 


67 




BOOK II 


Chapter I. After the vital warmth had deserted 
Arnulf ’s limbs and left his body lifeless, his son Louis 
was unanimously elefted to the throne. But the 
death of the great king was as clearly known to the 
Hungarians close by as it was to the inhabitants of the 
whole world, and the day of that joyful event was to 
them more pleasant than any festivity, more precious 
than any treasure. Why need I say more ? 

Ch. II. In the firffc year after Arnulf’s death and 
his son’s succession, the Hungarians colledfed a large 
army and laid claim to the territory of the Maravani, 
a people in whom Arnulf had thought to find a support 
againft their attacks. They also seized the land of 
the Bavarians, destroyed their caftles, burned their 
churches, massacred their people, and, to make them- 
selves more and more feared, drank the blood of those 
whom they had slain. 

Ch. III. Accordingly King Louis, seeing the 
cruelty of these enemies and the havoc they were 
making among his own people, so fired the hearts of 
all with apprehension that if any one by chance 
failed to serve in the war which he proceeded to wage 
against them, there was nothing left for him to do but 
to hang himself. AgainSt Louis’ great army an 
innumerable multitude of the villainous Hungarians 
hastened to advance. No man ever more ardently 
desired a drink of cold water than these cruel savages 
longed for the day of battle. Indeed their only joy 
is in fighting. In the book which deals with their 

69 



Antapodosis 

origin I read that 1 2 “ as soon as a child is born his 
mother makes a cut on his face with a sharp knife, so 
that he may learn to bear the pain of wounds before 
he has received nourishment from the breaft This 
assertion is rendered credible by the wounds they 
inflift on their own live flesh as a sign of grief when 
their kinsmen are dying. Ce gens sacrilige et impe, 
that is, this ungodly and impious race shed blood, it 
appears, instead of tears. King Louis with his army 
had juft reached Augsburg, a city on the borders of 
Swabia, Bavaria and eaftern France, when he heard 
of their unexpected, or rather undesired, proximity. 
Accordingly next day the two armies met on the 
plains of the river Lech, by their extent well suited 
to the work of Mars. 

Ch. IV. And so it came about that before 1 
“ Aurora left Tithonus’ saffron bed ” the Hungarians, 
thirfting for murder and eager for the fray, fell upon 
the others, namely the Chriftians, while they were 
ftill yawning with sleep. Some indeed were awakened 
by arrow points before they heard the cries of battle ; 
others were transfixed in tiieir beds, and were not 
roused either by the din or by their wounds : their 
life had gone before their slumber ended. On both 
sides a furious battle ftarted, and the Turks retiring 
in feigned retreat caused great havoc by the fierce 
fire of their filches, that is, of their arrows. 

When great Jehovah veils the golden light 
Of Phoebus with his clouds and draws dark night 
Athwart the heavens, swiftly all around 
The lightnings play and faft the thunders sound. 

Then tremble they whose trade it is to turn 
Black into white and fear themselves to burn 

1 Jordanea, HiHory of the Gotbs, ch. 24. 

2 Virgil, Ameidj IV, 585. 


70 



Tit-for-Tat 

In levin fire, conscious of their sins. 

So swift, so faSt, when once the fight begins, 

The foemen’s arrows hurtling in the air 

Pierce breastplates through and leave each quiver bare. 

And as the cruel bail on cornfields falls, 

Or rattles on the roofs of lordly halls, 

So fall the sword Strokes on the helms beneath, 

So arrows send the brave to mutual death. 

By this time Phoebus sinking in the sky marked one 
hour after noon and the war god was Still smiling 
upon Louis’ side, when the Turks with their wonted 
cunning set an ambush and feigned to retreat. As 
the king’s men, deceived by the trick, rushed boldly 
forward, the troops in ambush fell on them from 
every side and the viCtors found themselves in a 
moment vanquished and slain. The king himself, 
conquered now inStead of conqueror, was filled with 
dismay, the reverse being all the more serious because 
it was so unexpected. You could have seen the woods 
and fields strewn with corpses, the rivers and water 
channels running red with blood, while the neighing 
of horses and the blare of bugles increased the terror 
of the fugitives and cheered on the assailants to fresh 
efforts. 

Ch. V. Though the Hungarians thus achieved 
their desire, tAeir native villainy was not satisfied even 
by this dreadful massacre of Christians. To glut their 
perfidious rage they scoured the kingdoms of Bavaria, 
Swabia, France and Saxony, burning everything as 
they went. No one could withstand their onset, 
unless protedted by the natural or artificial Strength 
of fortifications, and for some years every one here had 
to pay them tribute. 

Ch. VI. At the time of this onset a certain Adalbert 
— I am not referring to an ordinary person, but to 

71 



Antapodosis 

the great hero of that name — -was maintaining a fierce 
feud againSt the government in his cattle of Bamberg. 
King Louis frequently collected all his forces and 
attacked him, but the hero, so far from laying near 
his cattle, as mod men would have done, marched out 
from his fortifications for some distance and took the 
initiative in attack. The king’s soldiers at firSt did 
not comprehend how bold he was, and thought to go 
ahead, entice him from the caStle in a preliminary 
skirmish, and kill him before the king arrived. But 
Adalbert was not only acquainted with this manoeuvre, 
but was fed up with it, and had already advanced so 
many miles that his enemies never realised he could 
have got so far until his fierce sword point thirsty for 
blood was actually at their throat. For about seven 
years the hero Adalbert carried on hostilities in this 
fashion, and at laSt Louis saw that he could only 
overcome his bold resistance by trickery. He therefore 
called in Hatto, Archbishop of Mainz, and asked him 
what he had better do. To that Hatto, who was well 
versed in every sort of guile, replied : — “ Do not 
trouble yourself. I will soon relieve you from these 
embarrassments. I will arrange that he shall come 
to you : you muSt see that he does not go back again ”. 
Then with the same confidence as had often before 
snatched success for him from disaSter, he made his 
way to Bamberg, pretending to be in sympathy with 
Adalbert, and on his arrival addressed him thus : — 
“ Even if you thought there was no after life, you 
would be a&ing wrongly in persisting in rebellion 
againSt your liege lord, especially as your conduct 
is quite unreasonable. You are so passionate and high 
spirited that you do not understand the love that is 
felt for you by everyone, and moSt of all by the king. 
TruSt me now and take my advice : I give you my 
oath that you may without hesitation leave your 

72 



Tit-for-Tat 

caCtle and return to it again. Even if you do not 
believe my priestly word, you can at leaf! truft my 
solemn oath. I will guarantee to bring you back to 
this caftle safe and sound, in the same ftate as I will 
now lead you out ”. 

Accordingly Adalbert, beguiled, or rather betrayed, 
by this honey sweet talk, agreed to accept Hatto’s 
assurance on oath and at once invited him to dinner. 
Hatto however, mindful of the trick which he meant 
in a moment to play, said that he could not possibly 
dine with him there that day, and hastily prepared 
to take his departure. Adalbert took him by the hand 
and escorted him for a little way, and as soon as Hatto 
saw that he was outside the caCtle, he said : — “ I am 
sorry now, my noble lord, that I did not take your 
advice and refresh myself with some food, for I have 
a long journey in front of me Thereupon Adalbert, 
never suspecting what danger and disaster lurked for 
him beneath these simple words, replied : — “ Let us 
go back, my master : you must not injure your health 
by too prolonged a fast : take at leaft a little refresh- 
ment To this Hatto agreed and went back to the 
caffcle the same way as he had let him out, Chill holding 
his hand as he retraced his Cteps. They then took a 
haCty meal together, and setting out again arrived 
that same day at the king’s camp. 

When the news spread that Adalbert had come on 
a visit to the king, the whole place was filled with 
shouting and uproar. Louis, no little rejoiced at 
his appearance, at once called his lords together and 
bidding them prepare to sit in judgment thus addressed 
them : “ What havoc Adalbert has wrought, in the 
paCt seven years, what harm he has done, what distress 
of rapine and conflagration he has brought upon us, 
we know only too well ; it is not a matter of report, 
but of painful experience. Therefore I now await 

73 



Antapodosis 

your judgment and ask you what shall be his reward, 
to pay for these his glorious deeds ”. The court 
unanimously decided that in accordance with the laws 
of the kings of old Adalbert was adjudged guilty of 
high treason and should be beheaded. As he was 
being dragged off in chains to execution, he looked 
Hatto in the face and cried : — “ You yourself will be 
guilty of perjury, if you allow me to be put to death ”. 
But Hatto replied : “ I promised that I would take 
you from your fort and bring you back again safe. I 
saw that I had fulfilled my promise when I led you 
out by the hand and led you back again at once safe 
and sound ”. Adalbert sighed to think that he had 
discovered the trick too late, and grieving over his 
mistake followed the executioner as unwillingly as he 
would have been glad to go on living, if he had been 
allowed. 

Ch. VII. After a few years then, since there was 
no one in the eaft or south- eaft of Europe able to 
resift the Hungarians — for they had by this time 
forced the Bulgarians and the Greeks to pay them 
tribute — they took the opportunity to visit the 
peoples of the south and weft and try their ftrength 
upon them also. They got together an army so huge 
that it defied numbering, and swooped down upon 
hapless Italy. They pitched their tents, or rather the 
miserable rags that served them for shelter, near the 
river Brenta, and then sent out scouts for three days 
to discover the lie of the country and how many or 
how few people were living in it. On their return 
they got the following report : — •“ This plain has a 
number of hills in it, and is bounded on one side, as 
you see, by rugged and fertile mountains, on the other 
by the Adriatic : there are also some ftrongly fortified 
towns. We do not know whether the people are good 
or bad fighters, but it is obvious that their numbers 

74 



Tit-for-Tat 

are very large. We do not advise an attack with, our 
present small force. There are, however, some reasons 
which urge us to battle ; our habit of victory, for 
example, our courage, our knowledge of warfare, and 
above all the wealth before us which we so ardently 
desire, wealth such as we have never seen or hoped to 
see in any part of the world. If you ask us for our 
opinion, we suggest that we now return home — it is 
not a very long or difficult journey and can be accom- 
plished in ten days or less — and come back here again 
next spring, when we have got together all the braveSt 
warriors of our nation. Then we shall strike terror 
into these people both by our courage and by our 
numbers ”. 

Ch. VIII. As soon as they heard this the Hungarians 
returned to their own country and spent the rough 
winter months in making armour, sharpening weapons, 
and training their young men in military exercises. 

Ch. IX. The sun had not yet passed from the 
sign of the Fishes into that of the Ram, when with an 
army huge beyond all counting they made their way 
into Italy. They passed through the Strong cities of 
Aquileia and Verona, and arrived unchecked at 
Ticinum, a town which is now known by the more 
glorious name of Pavia. King Berengar, who had 
never before even heard the word “ Hungarian ”, 
could not contain his surprise at this Strange and 
wonderful exploit, and at once sent round letters and 
messengers to the peoples of Italy, the Tuscans, the 
Volscians and the men of Camerino and Spoleto. He 
ordered them all to assemble in one place, and so got 
together a force three times as Strong as that of the 
Hungarians. 

Ch. X. Berengar, seeing this great hoSt assembled, 
was inflated with pride and attributed his triumph 
over the enemy not to God but to his own Strength. 

75 



Antapodosis 

He stayed himself in a small town with a few atten- 
dants, and gave himself up to pleasure. Why need 1 
say more ? As for the Hungarians, when they saw 
his huge army, they were filled with consternation 
and could not decide what to do. They were afraid 
to fight ; they could not run away. Finally, after 
long wavering, flight seemed preferable to battle, and 
they swam across the river Adda pursued by the 
ChriStians, making the passage in such haSte that many 
of them were drowned in the crossing. 

Ch. XI. Thereupon they wisely sent envoys to 
the ChriStians, offering to give up all the booty they 
had gained if they might be allowed to return home 
in safety. This requeSt — O lamentable tale ! the 
ChriStians insultingly rejected, and began to look 
about for chains to bind the Hungarians rather than 
for swords to kill them. The heathens, therefore, 
being unable to appease the ChriStians’ fury, determined 
to follow their original plan and seize the opportunity 
to escape by flight. 

Ch. XII. Continuing their retreat they got to 
the broad plains round Verona, where the Christian 
vanguard fell upon their rear. A skirmish took place 
in which the heathen were victorious : but as a 
Stronger force of their enemies was coming up, 
they remembered what they had meant to do, and 
resumed their journey. 

Ch. XIII. The ChriStians and the idolaters 
arrived together at the river Brenta, for the Hungar- 
ians’ horses were too weary to allow them to go further. 
The two armies therefore faced one another, separated 
only by the waters of the above named Stream. The 
Hungarians by this time were in a mortal panic and 
undertook to surrender furniture, captives, arms and 
horses, keeping only one animal for each man to 
return. To back up their petition, they undertook, 

76 



Tit-for-Tat 

if the Christians would allow them to depart alive, 
that they would never again enter and would give up 
their sons as pledges of their word. But alas ! the 
ChriStians, swollen with deceitful pride, thought that 
the heathens were already beaten and answered them 
back with threats. Lent repons e, that is, their reply 
was as follows : — “ If we were to accept gifts of 
surrender from surrendered dead dogs and enter into 
any treaty, even such a madman as OreStes would 
swear on his life that we were out of our senses ”. . 

Ch. XIV. The Hungarians were driven to despair 
by the failure of their envoys, and collecting their 
braveSt fighters began to comfort each other with 
mutual exhortations like these : — “ Since there is 
nothing worse that can happen to men than the ruin 
which faces us to-day, inasmuch as entreaties are useless 
and flight is impossible, while submission means death, 
why should we fear to rush upon our enemies’ swords 
and pay for death with death ? Is it not better to 
make fortune, not our own cowardice, responsible 
for our end ? To fall fighting like men is not to die, 
but to live. Let us leave our heritage , that is, our 
inheritance of fame to our descendants, even as we 
received it from our fathers. We ought to truft 
ourselves and our own experience at leaft, for we have 
often defeated a superior force with greatly inferior 
numbers. A hoft of weaklings is a mere crowd led 
out to the slaughter. The War God slays the fugitive 
and pro teds the flout fighter. These men, who have 
shown no pity to our supplications, do not know ^or 
understand that victory is a good thing but excessive 
triumph is odious ”. 

Ch. XV. After having cheered their hearts with 
these words of encouragement they arranged a triple 
ambush, and crossing the river rushed Straight upon 
the middle of the enemies’ line. Moft of the Christians 

77 



Antapodosis 

wearied by the long delay caused by these negotiations, 
had got down from their horses and were taking a meal 
in camp ; and the Hungarians came down upon them 
with such speed that in some cases their swords 
a&ually transfixed the food in their gullets. In other 
cases flight was impossible, since their horses had been 
scared away, and without their heeds they were left 
easy vidtims. To increase the disaster the Christians 
suffered from their mutual discords. Some of them 
not only refrained from attacking the Hungarians, but 
panted to see their neighbours slain, thinking in their 
perverse folly that they themselves would rule without 
restraint, provided that their neighbours were over- 
thrown. So by refusing to help their neighbour’s 
needs and by rejoicing in his ruin they brought 
dehrudtion upon themselves. The Christians finally 
fled, and the heathens pursued them savagely ; for 
since their proffered gifts had not won them mercy, 
they now in their turn refused to listen to supplications. 
The flight became a butchery, and the whole realm was 
scoured by the Hungarians’ merciless fury. No one 
ventured to withstand their approach unless he was 
behind strong walls. Indeed at this time their valour 
was so irresistible that while one sedtion of them was 
plundering Bavaria, Swabia, France and Saxony, 
another hoh was laying wahe all Italy. 

Cb. XVI. However, it was not their own valour 
that won them these triumphs. The word of the 
Lord is true, it is more enduring than earth and 
heaven, it cannot be changed : even as by the mouth 
of the prophet Jeremiah it threatens all peoples in 
the person of the house of Israel, saying 1 : — “ Lo, I 
will bring a nation upon you from far : it is a mighty 
nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language 
thou knoweh not, neither underhanded what they 

1 Jeremiah , v, 15. 


78 



Tit-for-Tat 

say. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are 
all mighty men. And they shall eat up thine harveSfc 
and thy bread, which thy sons and daughters should 
eat : they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds : 
they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees : they 
shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou 
truStedSt, with the sword. Nevertheless, in those days, 
saith the Lord God, I will not make a full end with 
you 

Ch. XVII. At this same time King Louis died, 
and Conrad, a man of Frankish origin and an energetic 
and skilful warrior, was unanimously chosen to fill the 
throne. 

Ch. XVIII. Under him the moft powerful princes 
were these : Arnold of Bavaria, Bruchard of Swabia, 
Everard the powerful count of France, and Giselbert 
duke of Lorraine. Among them also was Henry, the 
illustrious and powerful duke of the Saxons and Turin- 
gians. 

Ch. XIX. In the second year of his reign the 
princes mentioned above, and especially Henry, rose 
up in rebellion againSfc the king. Conrad however, by 
his vigorous wisdom and undaunted courage had the 
better of them, and they returned again to their 
allegiance. Arnold for his part was so frightened that, 
taking his wife and children with him, he fled to the 
Hungarians, and Stayed with them so long as the breath 
of life was in Conrad’s body. 

Ch. XX. In the seventh year of his reign Conrad 
knew that the time had come for him to be summoned 
into God’s presence. He therefore called the princes 
to him, Henry alone being absent, and addressed them 
thus : — “ As you see, the time is near at hand when 
I shall be called from the corruptible to the incor- 
ruptible, from mortality to immortality. Therefore 
I beg you now again and again to pursue peace and 

79 



Antapodosis 

harmony one with the other. When I leave this life 
let no desire for rule, no ambition for empire, fire 
your hearts. Eledt Henry, the wise duke, of the 
Saxons and Turingians, as king, and make him. your 
leige lord. He is a man rich in wisdom, abounding in 
severity, and of righteous judgment ”. After saying 
this he bade his attendants bring out his regal crown, 
not one of plain gold, such as distinguishes a prince of 
any rank, but one adorned, or rather weighed down, 
with moil precious jewels, together with his sceptre 
and royal robes. Then, in spite of his weakness, he 
poured forth these words : — “ By these regal ornaments 
I appoint Henry as my heir and successor to my 
regal dignity. I advise, nay more I beg you, to render 
him all obedience”. His death followed soon after 
these instructions, and compliance with them followed 
his death. As soon as he had expired, the princes 
took the crown and the royal vestments to Henry, and 
told him everything that Conrad had said in due 
order. 

Conrad at firSt had modestly declined the high 
position of king, and even when he accepted it he 
never showed any personal ambition. If his rule had 
not been so abruptly ended by death — 1 

“ Pale death that with impartial foot 
Knocks at the rich man’s tower, the poor man’s cot 99 

he would have been one whose glorious empire would 
have extended over many nations of our universe. 

Ch. XXI. At this same time Arnold, returning 
with his wife and sons from Hungary, was welcomed 
with every mark of honour by the Bavarians and the 
eastern Franks. Indeed not only was he welcomed, 
but strongly urged by them, to become king. Accor- 
dingly King Henry, seeing that everyone was obedient 

1 Horace, Odes , I, iv, 13. 


80 



Tit-for-Tat 

to his rule and that Arnold alone was inclined to 
resift him, collected a strong army and set out for 
Bavaria. Arnold heard of this, and not having the 
patience to wait for his arrival in Bavaria gathered 
together such forces as he could and haftened to meet 
him ; for he certainly had the ambition of becoming 
king himself. But when they were within an ace of 
being forced into fighting, King Henry, like a wise man 
and God fearing king, reflected on what irreparable 
harm a conflict might do either side, and sent a 
messenger to Arnold inviting him to a private con- 
ference. Arnold thought that he summoned him to 
a single combat, and so he came alone to the appointed 
place at the appointed hour. 

Ch. XXII. As he came in hafte to meet him 
King Henry addressed him thus : 

“ Why madly ftrive againft the Lord’s decree ? 
The people wills that I their king should be, 
By ordinance of Chrift in whom consifts 
This universe nor hell itself resifts. 

He ftrikes down mighty monarchs from their throne 
And sets the humble there, that they may own 
God’s favour through the years and to Him raise 
Perpetual songs of gratitude and praise. 

Why thirft in cruel rage for Chriftian blood ? 
Why thus assuage the ftings of envy’s mood ? 
Be sure of this : were you the people’s choice 
I more than any should with truth rejoice.” 

So by the fourfold grace of his oratory, which was 
both copious and brief, both compaft and flowery, 
wise King Henry succeeded in appeasing Arnold, and 
then returned to his own people. 

Ch. XXIII. Arnold reported the king’s speech to 
his partizans and got from them cette reponse , that is, 
this reply : — •“ There is a saying of the Wise Man, nay 

8i 



Antapodosis 

a saying of Wisdom herself, which runs thus 1 : — ‘ By 
me tings reign and wise men decree justice. By me 
princes rule And there is one of the Apoftle 3 : 

Who doubts that the powers that be are ordained of 
God ? Whosoever resifteth the power, resifteth the 
ordinance of God \ In choosing Henry all the people 
could not have been of one mind, if he had not been 
chosen before the foundation of the world by the 
Trinity which is one God. If he proves a good man, 
we ought to love him and praise God in him ; if bad, 
we muft bear him with resignation. For subjects 
often by their own deserts bring it about that their 
rulers are a burden rather than a guidance. It seems 
to us only right and juft, however, that if you agree 
with the reft and consent to Henry as king, he for his 
part should take your rank and wealth into consider- 
ation, and assuage your natural resentment by granting 
you some special privilege that your predecessors did 
not possess. We suggeft that the bishops of all 
Bavaria be put under your authority and that you 
shall have the power, when one bishop dies, of ordaining 
his successor ”. Arnold agreed with this wise and 
excellent advice, became a vassal of King Henry, and 
was honoured by him with the gift of all the bishoprics 
in Bavaria. 

Ch. XXIV. About the same time the Hungarians 
heard of the death of King Conrad and the succession 
of Henry to the throne. They therefore held 
a conference and addressed to one another these 
arguments : “ It may be that a new king will wish to 
follow new laws. Let us therefore gather together 
a large force, and go up and inveftigate the position, 
and find out whether King Henry means to pay us 
the tribute that he owes us. If — as we do not believe 
— he is different from the other kings, let us lay his 

1 Proverbs, viii, 15, 2 Romans , xiii, 1. 


82 



Tit-for-Tat 

kingdom waffce with an endless series of massacres and 
conflagrations. We will not occupy the land of the 
Bavarians immediately : we will take the territory of 
the Saxons firft, where Henry himself is king. Then 
if — as we do not expeCt — he should try to get an army 
together, it will not be able to reach him in time either 
from Lorraine or from France or from Swabia or 
from Bavaria. Moreover the land of the Saxons and 
the Turingians can be easily ravaged, inasmuch as it 
has no mountain defences, nor any of the protection 
that fortified towns afford.” 

Ch. XXV. King Henry was laid up with a serious 
illness when he was informed of the Hungarians’ near 
approach. He scarcely waited for the report to end, 
but sent off messengers at once through Saxony, 
bidding every man who could come to him in five 
days under pain of death. Before the time had 
expired a strong army had assembled ; for it is the 
laudable and praiseworthy custom of the Saxons to 
allow no male above the age of thirteen to shirk 
military service. Thereupon the king, weak in body 
but strong in spirit, found enough vigour to mount his 
horse and collecting his forces round him fired their 
fury for the fray by this address : — 

Ch. XXVI. 

“ Famous in war were the Saxons of old. 

Lions in battle their own they did hold, 

Even when Charles the whole world had subdued 
And every land with red carnage embrued. 

E’en that great vidtor the Saxons defeated ; 

And if before his next rush they retreated. 

That was God’s kindness who willed that our nation 
Should have its share of the Christian salvation. 
Now ’tis the heathenish Turks who attack, 

Men who know nothing of Chrift, and alack 1 
Hate God’s own church, and would force us to pay 

83 



Antapodosis 

Money as ransom ere they march away. 

Up then, my heroes, and enter the fight, 

Show to the foe your invincible might. 

Pay them no tribute, but let the knaves know 
Death is the gift they shall carry below, 

And, when their reckoning with you they tell, 
Count their doubloons in the red fires of hell.” 

Ch. XXVII. The King seeing that his exhorta- 
tions had fired his men for the fray, called for silence 
and once again touched by the breath of divine 
inspiration added these words : “ The deeds of the 
Kings of old and the writings of the holy fathers suggest 
to us what we ought to do. It is not hard for God to 
defeat a great hoT with a small company if the faith 
of those who desire vidfory deserves it : a faith, I mean, 
not only of professions but of works, not only of the 
lips but of the heart. Let us pray then and according 
to the psalmiT offer up our vows ; I firft, who seem to 
be foremost in rank and position. Let the heresy of 
Simony, hated by God and condemned by the blessed 
Peter, chief of the apoTles, which up to now has been 
rashly maintained by my predecessors, be altogether 
banished from our realm. Love of unity will then bind 
together those whom the devil’s cunninghas separated ! ” 
Ch. XXVIII. The King was desirous of saying 
more to the same effedt, when a flying messenger 
rushed in with news that the Hungarians were at 
Merseburg, a caftle on the borders of the Saxons, 
Turingians and Slavonians. He added that they had 
taken a huge company of women and children 
prisoners and had killed an immense number of men ; 
for they had declared, in order to Trike terror into the 
Saxons, that they would leave no one over ten years 
of age alive. The King’s firm courage, however, 
was not dismayed, but he uged his men all the more 

84 



Tit-for-Tat 

vehemently to battle, telling them it was their bounden 
duty to fight for their country and meet a glorious 
end. 

Ch. XXIX. Meanwhile the Hungarians were 
questioning their captives to find out if they were 
bound to attack. Being assured that otherwise their 
success was impossible, they sent out scouts to see if 
it was true. These men set out at once and came in 
sight of King Henry with a huge army close to the 
above mentioned town of Merseburg. They scarcely 
had time to return to their men and tell them 
of the enemies’ approach : indeed it was the 
King in person, not a messenger, who gave them 
warning of attack. 

Ch. XXX. The battle began immediately. From 
the Christian’s ranks on all sides was heard the holy, 
and wondrous cry “Kyrie eleison” “ Lord have mercy 
upon us ” : from the heathen came the foul and 
diabolical shout “ Hui hui.” 

Ch. XXXI. Before the beginning of the engage- 
ment Henry had given his men this sagacious and 
practical advice : “ When you are hastening forward 
to the firSt skirmish, let no one of you try to get ahead 
of his comrades juSt because he has a swifter horse. 
Cover yourselves on one side with your bucklers, and 
catch the firSt flight of arrows on your shields : then 
rush at them at full speed as furiously as you can, so 
that before they have time to fire a second volley they 
may feel the blows of your swords upon their heads ”. 
The Saxons accordingly, remembering this practical 
advice, advanced in level line. No one used his 
horse’s speed to get in front of his slower neighbour, 
but covering themselves on one side with their shields, 
as the king bade them, they caught the enemies’ 
arrows on them and rendered them harmless. Then, 
according to their wise leader’s command, they rushed 

85 



Antapodosis 

at full speed upon the foe, who groaned and gave up 
the ghoft before they could shoot again. So, by the 
kindness of God’s grace, the Hungarians found flight 
preferable to battle. Their swiftest horses then 
seemed sluggish to them : their gorgeous trappings 
and bright shields appeared a burden rather than a 
protection. They threw aside their bows, flung away 
their arrows, tore off their horses’ trappings, that 
nothing might check their speed, and thought of 
nothing but precipitate flight. But Almighty God, 
who had gripped them of courage for the fray, denied 
them any chance of escape. The Hungarians accor- 
dingly were cut to pieces and put to flight, the great 
throng of their prisoners was released, and the voice 
of lamentation changed to songs of joy. This memor- 
able and glorious triumph the king had celebrated in 
the upper room of a house at Merseburg par un 
tableau , that is, by a pifture, so that you can now see 
the battle, not as it might have happened, but as it 
actually occurred. 

Ch. XXXII. While this was going on the Italians 
almost unanimously by messengers invited a certain 
Louis, a man of Burgundian descent, to come to them, 
drive Berengar from the throne, and take the power 
himself. 

Ch. XXXIII. The instigator of this foul crime was 
Adalbert, marquess of Ivrea, to whom Berengar had 
given his daughter Gisla in marriage. By Gisla 
Adalbert had a son, whom he called after his grand- 
father, and he, he, I repeat, is the present Berengar, 
under whose monftrous tyranny all Italy is now 
groaning, the man whose foul tricks have forced the 
reft of the world to deftroy rather than to assift our 
poor country. But enough on that sub j eft. Let us 
return to our narrative. 

Ch. XXXIV. This same Adalbert was a man of 

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Tit-for-Tat 

thoroughly bad character, a source of danger to all 
honesl folk. In the days of his hot youth he had been 
wonderfully pious and liberal, so much so indeed that 
if a poor man met him on his return from the chase 
and wanted something which he could give, he would 
at once hand him the horn which hung by a gold 
fastening from his neck, and later buy it back from him 
at its full value. But afterwards he got so bad a 
reputation that grown men as well as children sung 
the following lines about him ; and they were well 
deserved. They sound better in another language, so 
let us give them thus : — 

“ Adalbert ns e£t cohortis 
Comes validus et fortis. 

Ensem longum tenet, idem 
Regi p ary am tenet fidem.” 

The meaning of the lines is that Adalbert has along 
sword but little sense of loyalty. 

Ch. XXXV. At the instigation of his fellow then 
and of some other Italians, the above mentioned Louis 
came into Italy. As soon as Berengar heard of his 
approach he marched againSt him, and when Louis 
saw Berengar’s large army and his own small force, 
under compulsion of terror he promised with an oath 
that no offers would ever tempt him into Italy again, 
if he were then allowed to return unharmed. His 
expulsion was the easier in that Berengar at this time 
by lavish gifts had secured the loyal support of Adalbert, 
the powerful marquess of Tuscany. 

Ch. XXXVI. But after a little time had elapsed 
the Adalbert in question took offence against Berengar ; 
and his wife Berta, mother of Hugh who in my time 
became king of Italy, sedulously fostered his grievance. 
The result was that the princes of Italy, after consul- 
tation with Adalbert, again invited Louis to claim 

87 



Antapodosis 

the throne. Louis’ ambition made him forget his 
oath and he came at once in hot hafte. 

Ch. XXXVII. Berengar, seeing that Louis was 
being supported both by the princes of Italy and the 
princes of Tuscany, set out for Verona. Louis, 
however, with the Italians, did not cease to pursue 
him and finally drove him even from Verona and 
subdued the whole realm. 

Ch. XXXVIII. After this it seemed good to Louis 
that as he had seen all parts of Italy he should also 
pay a visit to Tuscany. He accordingly left Pavia and 
set out for Lucca, where he was received by Adalbert 
with great pomp and hospitality. 

Ch. XXXIX. So when Louis saw whole companies 
of well equipped soldiers standing about in Adalbert’s 
palace, and noticed the expenses that this display of 
power involved, he was seized with jealous envy and 
said privately to his followers : — •“ This fellow might 
well be called not marquess but king ; in nothing but 
the name is he my inferior ”. Adalbert got to know of 
this, and when his wife Berta, who was a shrewd woman, 
heard of it also, she not only induced her husband to 
renounce his allegiance to Louis but persuaded the 
other Italian princes to follow his example. As a 
result, when Louis arrived at Verona on his return 
journey, and suspecting no danger had taken up his 
quarters there without hesitation, Berengar bribed the 
city guards at dead of night and passed through the 
gates with a Strong force of fearless followers. 

Ch. XL. As the Tiber runs through Rome, so 
the river Adige runs through Verona. Over it a huge 
marble bridge has been built, of wonderful size and 
workmanship. On the left, or northern, bank the 
city is protected by a high Iteep hill, so that even if 
the right hand side is occupied by an enemy, it is 
possible to offer a manful resistance on the left. On 

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the summit of the hill there stands a church of mo£t 
coStly Structure, consecrated in honour of Saint Peter, 
the chief of the apostles, and here Louis, owing to its 
picturesque position and strong defences, was Claying. 

Ch. XL1. Berengar, as we have said, entered the 
city by night without Louis’ knowledge, and crossing 
the bridge with his men reached his enemy just as 
dawn was faintly breaking. Louis, awakened by the 
shouts and clamour of the soldiers, inquired what was 
the matter, and then, realizing his danger, took refuge 
in the church, no one except one of Berengar’s men 
knowing where he had gone. This fellow determined 
not to betray his hiding place, but fearing left his 
comrades might come upon it and reveal it and then 
Louis be put to death, he went himself to Berengar 
and addressed him thus : “ Since God has deemed 
you so worthy that He has now put your enemy into 
your power, it is your duty to honour His precepts, 
or rather His commands. He has said 1 : c Be ye 
merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, 
and ye shall not be judged : condemn not, and ye 
shall not be condemned.’ ” Berengar, who was not 
devoid of cunning, realized that the man knew where 
Louis was hiding, and so he deceived him with this 
sophistical answer : — •“ Do you imagine, blockhead, 
that I wish to kill a man, nay more, a king, whom the 
Lord has put into my hands ? When God put King 
Saul in David’s power, had not that righteous man the 
opportunity to slay him and yet refused to rise it ? ” 
The soldier was induced by these words to point out 
the place of Louis’ retreat, and the latter was thereupon 
dragged out and brought before Berengar where the 
king rebuked him thus : — “ How long, Louis, will you 
abuse our patience ? Can you deny that occasion in 
the paSt, when you were so hemmed in by my forces 

1 St Luke , vi, 36. 


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Antapodosis 

and my careful guard that you could not move a hand 
againSt me ? And did I not then listen to the voice 
of pity, which you did not deserve, and let you go 
free ? Have you realized, I say, that you are a prisoner, 
caught in the meshes of your own perfidy ? You 
assured me, you know, that you would never set foot 
in Italy again. I grant you your life, for I promised 
it to the man who betrayed you ; but not only do I 
order, but I insist, that you be deprived of your 
sight.” His commands were fulfilled ; Louis was 
blinded, and Berengar again became master of the 
realm. 

Ch. XLII. Meanwhile the mad rage of the 
Hungarians, unable to find vent in Saxony, France, 
Swabia and Bavaria, spread itself without resistance 
over all Italy, Berengar doing his beSt to win their 
friendship as he could not rely on the loyalty of his 
own soldiers. 

Ch. XLII I.. The Saracens also, who, as I have said, 
were living at Fraxinetum, after ruining Provence, 
extended their savage raids to the northern diStrifts 
of Italy close by, and finally, after sacking several 
cities, came to Acqui, a town about forty miles from 
Pavia, which gets its name from the wonderful square 
baths that have been built there. The whole country 
accordingly was in a panic, and no one waited for the 
Saracens to approach unless he had a perfectly sure 
refuge. 

Ch. XLIF. At this same time another band of 
Saracens sailed from Africa to Italy and laid hands on 
Calabria, Apulia, Benevento and almost all the cities 
belonging to the Romans, so that in every place the 
Romans held but one half, these Africans the other. 
Indeed they established a fort on Mount Garigliano, 
where they kept in security their wives, children and 
captives, and all their goods and chattels. No one 

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coming from the we£t or north to make his prayers 
on the thresholds of the blessed apoftles was able to 
get into Rome without being either taken prisoner 
by these men or only released at a high ransom. 
Indeed although our poor Italy was hard pressed by 
the ravages of the Hungarians and the Saracens from 
Fraxinetum, no fury, no pestilence was so destructive 
as these Africans proved to be. 

Ch. XLV. It is said that the occasion of their 
leaving Africa and coming to Italy was as follows. 
When the auguSt emperors Leo and Alexander left 
this mortal life, Romanos, as I shall relate in fuller 
detail, was joint ruler at Constantinople with Con- 
stantine, son of the emperor Leo, who is Still alive 
amongSt us. The usual thing happened in the firSt 
year of Romanos’ reign : an attempt at rebellion was 
made by some of les orientates , that is, by some of 
the eaStern peoples. As a further result, while the 
emperor’s troops were occupied in quelling this 
revolt, Apulia and Calabria, two countries which were 
then part of his dominions, also rebelled againSt him. 
With a large army already in the eaSt, the emperor 
could not spare any great force for Italy, and he 
therefore at firSt merely summoned the rebels to 
return to their former allegiance. They flatly refused 
to do anything of the sort, and the emperor in a rage 
sent messengers to the African king, offering him money 
and begging him with the help of his brave soldiers 
to subdue Apulia and Calabria for him. Thereupon 
the African sent a huge fleet and army across to Italy, 
and by force of arms brought these two di£fcri£b once 
more beneath the emperor’s control. But when the 
time came for the Africans to leave Calabria, they 
wheeled northwards in the direction of Rome, and 
for their own security laid claim to Mount Garigliano, 
and also captured many strong cities in fierce fight. 

9i 



Antapodosis 

Ch. XLVI. Our Lord Jesus Chrift, co-eternal and 
consubftantial with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, 
whose mercy fills the earth, who wishes no man to 
perish, but all men to be saved and come to knowledge 
of the truth, left that be loft which God foreordained 
before the world was made, when He created man 
after all other creatures, to make use of them and be 
their mafter, man whom at the end of time He who is 
true man and true God, not two but one, redeemed 
by the shedding of His blood — Our. Lord, I say, 
invites some men by kindness to love Him and cherish 
their native land, while in other cases He uses the 
compulsion of fear. He seeks not His own glory, for 
He can get no benefit from our goodness as the 
prophet teftifies saying : — “ Thou needeft not my 
goods ” — nor derive any harm from our badness, but 
He desires to help us. So, as kindness had proved^ in 
vain, He willed for the moment to chaftise us with 
terror in this fashion. But finally, left the Saracens 
should insult too long and say— “ Where now is their 
God ? ” God turned the hearts of the Chriftians and 
filled them with an even greater desire for fighting 
than that which they had felt for flight. 

Ch. XLVII. At this time John of Ravenna 
occupied the venerable see of Rome, having obtained 
the papacy by a crime that outraged all law, human 
and divine. The circumftances were as follows. 

Ch. XLFIII. A certain shameless ftrumpet called 
Theodora, grandmother of the Alberic who recently 
passed from this life, at one time was sole monarch of 
Rome and — shame upon us even to say the words ! — 
exercised power in the moft manly fashion. She had 
two daughters, Marotia and Theodora, and these 
damsels were not only her equals but could even surpass 
her in the exercises that Venus loves. Marotia, as 
the result of shameful adultery, became the mother 

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Tit-for-Tat 

by Pope Sergius, whom we have mentioned above, of 
the John who after the death of John of Ravenna won 
his way to the papacy ; by the marquess Alberic she 
had another son, the Alberic who in our days made 
himself prince of Rome. 

Now the see of Ravenna, an archbishopric held only 
second in importance to the papacy of Rome, was then 
in Peter’s hands. John, who afterwards became Pope, 
was one of his church clergy and was frequently sent 
by him to Rome with official messages of due respeft 
to his apostolic superior. Theodora, who, as I have 
declared, was a quite shameless harlot, saw the young 
man, and at once was all on fire with luft to possess 
him. So inflamed was she by his handsome person 
that not only did she offer herself to him as his mistress, 
but forced him to comply with her desires again and 
again. While this shamelessness was going on, the 
Bishop of Bologna died and John was elected in his 
place. Juft before the day of his consecration Peter 
the Archbishop of Ravenna passed away, and at 
Theodora’s inftigation John abandoned his see at 
Bologna and filled with vaunting ambition broke all 
the laws of the holy Fathers and claimed the Arch- 
bishopric as his own. He therefore came to Rome 
and soon afterwards was ordained Bishop of Ravenna. 
Then a little time elapsed and God summoned the 
Pope who had illegally ordained him. Thereupon 
Theodora, with a harlot’s wanton naughtiness, fearing 
that she would have few opportunities of going to bed 
with her sweetling if he were separated from her by 
the two hundred miles that lie between Ravenna and 
Rome, forced him to abandon his archbishopric at 
Ravenna, and take for himself — O monftrous crime ! — 
the papacy of Rome. This was the man then, and 
this was the way in which he became Vicar of the 
holy apoftles, when the Africans, as I began by saying, 

93 



Antapodosis 

were wreaking such, cruel havoc on Benevento and the 
cities near Rome. 

Ch. XL1X. It happened meanwhile that one of 
the African soldiers, as the result of some wrong done 
to him, deserted and came to Pope John and under 
divine inspiration addressed him thus : — “ If you were 
wise, lord bishop, you would not allow your people 
and your country to be so cruelly mangled by the 
Africans. Pick out some young men, nimble and quick 
of foot, who will obey me readily as master, teacher 
and general. No one of them mud carry anything 
except one shield each, one javelin, one sword, some 
simple clothes and a small quantity of provisions.” 

Ch. L. Sixty youths answering to his description 
were found and handed over to him, and with them he 
hastened to attack the Africans, hiding by the side 
of the narrow roads which they used. So on several 
occasions when the Africans were returning from a raid, 
the young men sprang out from their ambush with 
a fierce cry upon them, and taking them unawares 
and off their guard cut them down with but little 
difficulty. A shout from the lips and a blow from the 
hand were simultaneous, nor were the Africans aware 
of what was happening, or who were their assailants, 
until they found themselves transfixed by their 
javelins. Finally several other bands of Romans, 
encouraged by news of these successes, routed the 
Africans in different parts of the country, and at laSt 
the enemy, worn down by this clever policy, gave up 
their plans and left the Roman cities alone, only 
keeping Mount Garigliano as a place of refuge. 

Ch. LI. When John was made pope, as we have 
said, a certain Landolf, an energetic man and skilful 
in all military exercises, was the illustrious prince of 
Benevento and Capua. As the Africans were doing 
great damage to the State, Pope John consulted this 

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Tit-for-Tat 

noble prince Landolf and asked him what he had 
better do in regard to this African business. When the 
prince got this message, he sent envoys to the Pope 
with the following reply : “ My spiritual father, this 
is a matter that requires careful consideration and a 
bold policy. Send therefore to the emperor of the 
Greeks, for these fellows are continually ravaging his 
territory this side of the sea juft as they do ours. 
Invite the people of Camerino and Spoleto also to 
help us, and under God’s protection let us all then 
begin a vigorous campaign. If we win, let the victory 
be imputed, not to our hoSfc, but to God : if the 
Africans beat us, let it be put to the account of our 
sins and not to cowardice.” 

Ch. LII. As soon as the pope heard this he sent 
off messengers to Constantinople, humbly asking the 
emperor for assistance. The latter, being a righteous 
and God fearing man, without delay sent off a fleet 
with an army on board, which passed up the river 
Garigliano and joined forces with Pope John, 
Landolf the powerful prince of Benevento, and the 
people of Camerino and Spoleto. A fierce battle 
then followed, from which the Africans, seeing that 
the ChriStians were the Stronger, retreated to the 
summit of Mount Garigliano and contented themselves 
with blocking all the narrow paths up it. 

Ch. LIII. The Greeks this same day pitched their 
camp on that side of the hill where the ascent was 
Steeper and opportunities for retreat more available. 
They then kept a close watch on the Africans to 
prevent them from escaping, and by daily assaults 
caused them considerable loss of men. 

Ch. LIV. Day by day the Greeks and the Latins 
continued their attacks, and finally by God’s grace 
not a single African remained ; they were all either 
slain by the sword or taken alive. In this fighting 

95 



Antapodosis 

some faithful believers saw the figures of the two 
apoftles Saint Pater and Saint Paul, and we are con- 
fident that it was owing to their prayers, that the 
Christians obtained the victory and the Africans were 
put to flight. 

Ch. LV. At this time Adalbert, the powerful 
marquess of Tuscany, died and his son Wido was 
appointed by King Berengar marquess in his place. 
However, Adalbert’s wife Berta, after her husband’s 
death, exercised as much authority with her son as 
Adalbert himself had possessed. By cunning, lavish 
gifts, and the pleasant exercises of the nuptial couch, 
Berta secured a number of loyal supporters. Con- 
sequently, when a little later she with her son was 
taken prisoner and confined in Mantua, her friends 
refused to surrender her cities and castles to King 
Berengar, but held them firmly for her and soon 
afterwards released her and her son from prison. 

Ch. LV1. This lady by common report had three 
children by her husband : Wido, whom we have 
mentioned above ; Lambert, who is ftill alive but 
blind ; and one daughter Ermengarde, her mother’s 
doughty rival in the sweet delights of Aphrodite, 
whom she married to Adalbert marquess of Ivrea on 
the death of his firft wife, Gisla daughter of Berengar 
and mother of the King Berengar now alive. Ermen- 
garde had one son named Anscar, and my next book 
will describe what marvellous courage and boldness he 
possessed. 

Ch. LFII. At this same period Adalbert, the king’s 
son-in-law, marquess of Ivrea, and Odelric count of 
the palace, a man of Swabian descent, together with 
the rich and energetic count Gislebert and Lampert 
Archbishop of Milan, joined with some of the other 
Italian princes in a rebellion againft Berengar. The 
cause of their revolt was as follows. When the time 

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Tit-for-Tat 

came for Lampert after his predecessor’s death, to be 
ordained Archbishop of Milan, Berengar, contrary to 
the rules of the Holy Fathers, claimed from him a 
large sum of money, and after his own demands had 
been satisfied sent in a further account, bating the 
sums ftill due to his chamberlains, his porters, the 
guardians of his peacocks, and even his poultry men. 
Lampert was so inflamed with desire to become 
archbishop that he paid all that the king demanded ; 
but how it pained him to do so you will understand by 
what follows. 

Ch. LVIII. At that time the above mentioned 
Odelric, count of the palace, was Berengar’s prisoner, 
and on Lampert’s appointment the king entrusted 
him with the care of his captive until he should decide 
what to do with him. Lampert however had not 
forgotten the amount of money he had paid for his 
bishopric, and soon began to discuss the king’s irreli- 
gious conduct with his charge. 

Ch. LIX. A few suns had set when Berengar 
sent a messenger ordering Odelric to appear before 
him. The bishop’s reply, as is well known, was 
couched in these ironical words : — “ Assuredly I 
ought to be deprived of my holy office, if I hand over 
any man to one who intends to cut his throat.” The 
messengers saw that this refusal to surrender to the 
king a man whom he had entrusted to him meant 
nothing else but open rebellion, and therefore on 
their return they made their report in the line from 
Terence’s play 1 : 

If you want it kept securely, hand it over, pray, to him.” 

Ch. LX. At this time King Rodulf held sway 
over the haughty Burgundians, his great power 
having been further increased by his marriage with 

1 Terence, Adelphi, III, 3, 18. 


97 



Antapodosis 

Berta, daughter of Bruchard the might/ duke of 
Swabia. The Italians accordingly now sent messengers 
to him, asking him to drive Berengar from the throne. 

Cb. LXI. In the middle of their negotiations, 
however, it happened that without their knowledge 
a body of Hungarians arrived at Verona, whose two 
leaders Dursacand Bugat were close friends of Berengar. 
Marquess Adalbert, Count Odelric, Count Gisle- 
bert, and several others were in the mountains near 
Brescia, fifty miles from Verona, holding secret 
meetings to arrange for Berengar’s downfall,, when 
the king sent to the Hungarians, asking them, if they 
loved him, to fall upon his enemies. The Hungarians, 
who were, as ever, eager for battle and thirsty for 
blood, at once agreed. Berengar provided them 
with a guide who took them by an unusual route, 
so that they came upon the conspirators from the rear 
and attacked them so quickly that they had no time 
to put on armour or snatch up a sword. Many were 
captured, many were killed ; Count Odelric, who 
defended himself manfully, being among these latter, 
while the Marquess Adalbert and Gislebert were taken 
alive. 

Cb. LXII. Adalbert was no great man of war, but 
he was excessively clever and shrewd- When he saw 
the Hungarians bursting in on every side and knew 
there was no hope of escape, he threw away his belt 
and golden armlets and any other ornaments of value, 
and dressed himself up in a soldier’s rough coat, so 
that the Hungarians might not recognize him. 
Accordingly, when they laid hands on him and asked 
him who he was, he said that he was a soldier’s batman, 
and prayed them to take him to the neighbouring 
town of Calcinate, where, he declared, his parents 
would pay ransom for him. Not being recognized he 
was taken to the town, and handed over at a very low 

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Tit-for-Tat 

figure, the actual purchaser being one of his own 
vassals, a man called Leo. 

Ch. LX111. Gislebert for his part was recognized, 
and after being scourged and put in chains was dragged 
before Berengar half naked. He had no drawers on 
and only a short tunic, so that when he fell down 
hastily on his face at the king’s feet the whole company 
almost died with laughter to see his testicles plainly 
revealed. King Berengar, however, loving piety as 
always, listened again to the voice of mercy, although 
Gislebert did not deserve it, and instead of gratifying 
the people’s wish by returning evil for evil, he had him 
taken to a bath at once and supplied with rich raiment, 
and then allowed him to depart, with these words : 
“I demand no oath from you. I leave you to 
your own sense of loyalty ; for you know that if you 
injure me you will have to render account to God.” 

Ch. LX1V. Gislebert then returned to his own 
estates and immediately forgot the kindness he had 
received. As envoy from Adalbert, the king’s son-in- 
law and the others who had joined in the rebellion, 
he went to persuade Rodulf to come into Italy, and 
within a month succeeded in his purpose. Rodulf 
arrived, and obtaining universal support left Berengar 
nothing but Verona in the whole realm, which he 
himself forcefully governed for the next three years. 

Ch. LXV. Seeing that a man in the course of 
twelve hours is now satisfied with himself and now 
dissatisfied, now loves a thing and now hates it, how 
is it possible that he should always consistently please 
all men ? So before those three years had passed, 
while some people thought Rodulf a good king, 
others considered him a tyrant. The result was that 
one half of the realm desired Rodulf for ruler, the 
other half preferred Berengar. They therefore pre- 
pared for civil war on a wide scale, and since Wido, 

99 



Antapodosis 

Bishop of Piacenza, supported Berengar’s faction, they 
made ready for battle near Fiorenzuola, twelve miles 
from Placentia. 

A week had passed in fair July 
Since its tenth day was bom, 

And lo ! the clouds of civil strife 
Darkened the gloomy morn. 

The sun had scarcely shown his light 
When clarions called each man to fight. 

Father slays son — O cruel fate ! 

A son his father slays. 

A grandsire lifts the murderous sword 
And ends his grandson’s days. 

The Furies fan the flame of ftrife 
As brother takes his brother’s life. 

King Berengar speeds through the hoft ; 

King Rodulf with fierce blade 
Wreaks havoc in the crowded ranks, 

As when the corn is laid 
By some black ftorm with sickle keen ; 

And ruin reigns where peace has been. 

Ch. LXV1. King Rodulf had given his sifter 
Waldrada, a lady who is ftill alive and of high repute 
both for her beauty and her wisdom, to the powerful 
Count Boneface, who later in my time became 
marquess of Camerino and Spoleto. In company with 
Count Gariard he collefteda force and came to Rodulf’s 
assiftance ; but as he was as shrewd as he was bold, 
he preferred to lie in ambush with his men and to 
await results rather than encounter the firft shock of 
battle. Rodulf’s forces were almoft all in retreat and 
Berengar’s soldiers at the signal of victory were taking 
the opportunity to colleft the spoils, when Boneface 

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Tit-for-Tat 

and Gariard suddenly rushed from their ambush, and 
routed the vigors the more easily because their attack 
was so unexpected. Gariard spared a few of the 
enemy, striking them with his spear shaft rather than 
the blade ; but Boneface was merciless and caused 
fearful havoc in their ranks . He was soon able to sound 
the signal of victory, and Rodulf’s retreating forces 
having now joined him, they pursued Berengar’s men 
together and forced them to take to flight. Berengar 
then retired to his wonted shelter in Verona ; and in 
this carnage so great was the number of the slain 
that even to-day fighting men in this diftriCf are 
scarce. 

Ch. LXV1I. After this success Rodulf subdued the 
whole realm by force of arms, and coming in hafte 
to Pavia addressed his assembled forces thus : — 
“ Since by the kindness of heaven’s favour it has been 
granted me to conquer my enemies and secure the 
throne, it is my desire to commend my realm of Italy 
to your loyal protection and to visit my old home in 
Burgundy.” To this the Italians answered : — “ If 
that seems good to you, we are ready.” 

Ch. LXVIII. After Rodulf’s departure the people 
of Verona listened to bad advice and plotted treacher- 
ously to take Berengar’s life. The instigator of this 
cruel crime was a certain Flambert, to whose son the 
king had aCted as sponsor at the baptismal fount, thus 
sharing paternity with the father. Berengar became 
aware of the plot, and the day before he met his 
end he summoned Flambert to him and said these 
words : — 

Ch. LXIX. “ If there were not so many good 
reasons for affeCtion between you and me, then 
perhaps I might believe what I hear about you. 
People tell me that you are plotting againCt my life : 
but I give no credence to their tales. I want you to 

101 



Antapodosis 

remember that every increase of fortune and position 
you have had would have been impossible had it not 
been for my kindness. Therefore you ought to be 
grateful, and let me reft on the throne secure of your 
affection and loyal support. I think that no man has 
ever shown such care for his own fortunes and welfare 
as I have shown for your advancement. All my 
wishes have centred on that one obje£f, all my exer- 
tions, cares and efforts, all my thoughts for the ffate. 
Be sure of this : if I see that you remain loyal, my own 
life will not be so dear to me as the pleasure I shall 
feel in pious gratitude.” 

Ch. LXX. When the king had ended thus, he 
handed him a heavy golden cup and added : “ As a 
pledge of welfare and affection, drink the contents 
and accept the container ”. After that draught 
Satan truly and without doubt entered into the 
other, as it is written of Judas who betrayed Our 
Lord Jesus Christ 1 : — “ After the sop Satan entered 
into him ”. 

Ch. LXXI. Forgetful of the paif and present 
favours he had received Flambert spent a sleepless 
night urging the people to murder the king. He, for 
his part, followed his usual custom and took up his 
lodging, not in the palace which could have been 
defended, but in a pleasant cottage near the church. 
Moreover, as he suspefted no mischief, that night no 
guards were set. 

The crowing cock had clapped his wings, 

And loud the brazen bell 
Rang out for men to rise from sleep. 

Casting off slumber’s spell, 

And come to God’s own house and raise 
To heaven the morning song of praise. 

1 St John , xiii, 27. 


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Tit-for-Tat 

The king was kneeling in the church 
Praying to Him who gave 
This life to men and bade us seek 
A realm beyond the grave ; 

When lo ! the door was opened wide 
And Flambert waiting flood outside. 

A crowd was with him who had come 
In ha£le their lord to kill. 

The king rose quickly at the noise 
Suspecting naught of ill, 

And when he saw the signs of war 
Cried out to Flambert from afar : — 

“ Good sir, what means this turmoil here ? 

What seeks this armed throng ? ” 

The other answered : — “ Have no fear. 

They would not do you wrong. 

Their aid againft those rogues they bring 
Who plot this day to slay their king.” 

So truftfully to them he came 
ExpeCting help to find. 

Then swift the murderer raised his spear 
And smote him from behind. 

Down falls the king, and as he falls 
Upon God’s gracious mercy calls. 

Ch. LXXI1. How innocent was the blood these 
men shed, how perverse their villainy, I need not 
declare. The Clone before the church door with its 
blood marks is plain evidence to all who pass by. 
However much they are washed and scrubbed, those 
ftains can never be wiped away. 

Ch. LXXIII. Berengar had brought up with all 
care in his household a youth of heroic character 

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Antapodosis 

named Milo, a young man well worthy of history’s 
praise. If the king had listened to his advice, he would 
not have met this so unhappy fate ; unless indeed all 
this was the result of God’s providence and could not 
be altered. Certainly on the night when Berengar 
was betrayed Milo had brought in soldiers and proposed 
to have a force on guard for the night. The king 
however, deceived by Flambert’s promises, not only 
would not have a guard set but ftridtly forbade Milo 
to take any precautions. But though he was not able 
to protect the king in his absence, Milo, like a faithful 
upright servant not forgetful of the kindness he had 
received, soon found means to take signal vengeance 
on his assassin. Three days after the murder he laid 
violent hands on Flambert and his accomplices, and 
had them all hanged. There were indeed in Milo 
manly virtues of high excellence and of them at the 
proper time I will speak, if God so pleases and life 
be granted to me. 


104 



CONTENTS 


EOOK III 


CHAPTER page 

I Of the title of this work, why it is called Anta- 

podosis ........ 109 

II How after Berengar’s death and Rodulf’s departure 

the Hungarians ravaged Italy . . . .110 

III A metrical description of the lamentable burning 

of Pavia . . . . . . . . Iio 

IV How God’s sword did not utterly destroy Pavia, 

but by His mercy wonderfully freed her from the 
Hungarians . . . . . . .ill 

V How she was freed by the merits of her patron 

saint Syrus . . . . . - .112 

VI How this same saint Syrus came to Pavia and by the 
spirit of prophecy foretold her prosperity and 
Aquileia’s ruin . . . . . .112 

VII Why Ermengarde became so powerful after the 

death of her husband Adalbert . . . .113 

VIII Soon after King Rodulf’s return from Burgundy 
Ermengarde revolts against him, and with the help 

of the Italians seizes Pavia . . . . .113 

IX King Rodulf marches with an army on Pavia . 113 

X How Ermengarde by her cunning induced Rodulf 
to leave his men by night and come over to her as a 
deserter . . . -• - • .113 

XI How Rodulfs soldiers fled to Milan when this 

next morning was discovered . . . .114 

XII The Italians send for Hugh . . * .114 

XIII Rodulf again goes to Burgundy and brings back his 

wife’s father Bruchard to help him . . .114 

105 



Antapodosis 


CHAPTER 

XIV For what reason Bruchard set out to Milan and 
why after an honourable reception there it was 
resolved to kill him ...... 

XV Bruchard returning from Milan reaches Novara, 
where he and all his men are slain by the Italians . 

XVI After Bruchard’s death Rodulf retires to Burgundy, 
and Hugh sails across the Gulf of Lyons to Italy . 

XVII Some of the Italians meet him at Pisa, where 
envoys from Pope John also come, and at their 
advice he goes to Pavia and is made king . 

XVIII Of King Hugh’s brother Wido, governor of Tuscany, 
who took the Roman harlot Marozia as his wife 


XIX 

XX 

XXI 

XXII 

XXIII 

XXIV 

XXV 

XXVI 

XXVII 

XXVIII 

XXIX 

XXX 


Of King Hugh’s many virtues and how they were 
marred by his incontinence .... 

How King Hugh at that time had two sons . 

How King Hugh won the friendship of King 
Henry ........ 

Of the envoy sent by the king to Constantinople 
to the Roman Emperor ..... 

Of the two dogs presented to the Emperor and how 
they tried to bite him ..... 

Why King Hugh’s envoy was so wonderfully well 
received by the Emperor ..... 

Of the ferocious lion that Romanos killed . 

How Romanos fir£f was appointed admiral and 
then father of the Emperor .... 

The general-in~chief Focas, fighting against the 
Bulgarian king Simeon, retires of his own accord 
when he hears that Romanos has been appointed 
father of the Emperor ..... 

In what fashion Focas coming to Constantinople 
is taken prisoner by Romanos and blinded . 

Of the Bulgarian king Simeon, who was at firft 
a monk and afterwards a king .... 

Of Romanos who married his daughter Helena 
to the Emperor Constantine .... 

io 6 


PA Gt 

US 

116 

116 

ii 6 

117 
117 

117 

117 

118 
118 

118 

119 

121 

122 

123 

123 

124 



Tit-fOr-Tat 


CHAPTER page 

XXXI Why the emperors have the name Porphyro- 

genitus 124 

XXXII In what fashion Basil became emperor after 

murdering his mailer the Emperor Michael . . 124 

XXXIII Of how Our Lord Jesus Chrilb appeared in a vision 
to Basil and frightened him with regard to 
Michael’s death 125 

XXXIV Of Basil’s repentance and of the wonderful church 

he built in atonement for his sin . . . .125 

XXXV In what fashion Romanos addressed the princes, and 
after being father of the emperor became emperor 
himself 126 

XXXVI How Romanos was born of a humble family . . 127 

XXXVII Romanos makes his son Chrilbopher emperor, and 
unfairly gives him precedence over his mailer 
Conlbantine 1 27 

XXXVIII In what fashion peace was arranged between 

Romanos and Simeon 128 

XXXIX Of Walpert and Gezo of Pavia, who Ibirred up a 

revolt again lb King Hugh 128 

XL How they were deceived by a humble message 

from the king ....... 129 

XLI Soon afterwards Walpert is beheaded and Gezo 

blinded 130 

XLI I Of Bishop Ildoin and the monk Rather, how 
King Hugh made the firlb Archbishop of Milan, 
and the second Bishop of Verona . . . 132 

XLIII In what fashion Pope John was taken captive, 
put in prison, and killed there ; who was ordained 
in his place; and how on Wido’s death Lambert 
becomes marquess . . • . . .132 

XLIV Marozia invites King Hugh to her bed . . 133 

XLV Of the fort at the entrance to Rome, where King 
Hugh is received, and whence soon afterwards he is 
shamefully driven by Alberic . . . . 133 

XL VI How this was due to God’s dispensation . 135 


I07 



Antapodosis 


CHAPTER page 

XL VII In what fashion and for what reason King Hugh 
arrefted his brother Lambert and after blinding 
him at his brother Boso’s suggestion gave this latter 
his march . . . . . . . 135 

XLVIII King Hugh receives King Rodulf’s pledge, and by 

gifts secures King Henry’s friendship . . 137 

XLIX Arnold, duke of the Bavarians, at the invitation 
of Count Milo and Bishop Rather hastens into 
Italy, while King Hugh advances quickly againSt 
him 137 

L Of the Bavarians killed by Hugh’s men . .137 

LI Why Milo left Arnold and came to King Hugh . 138 

LII Arnold storms the fortress of Verona and then 
returns to Bavaria. Of the recovery of Verona by 
King Hugh, of the imprisonment of Bishop Rather, 
and of the witty book he wrote . . .138 


I08 



BOOK III 


Ch. I. I do not doubt, reverend fatter, that the 
title of this work causes you some surprise. You say 
perhaps : “ Since it sets forth the deeds of illustrious 
men, why is it called Antapodosis ( £ Tit-for-Tat 
My answer is this : The aim and objedt of this work 
is to reveal, declare and Stigmatize the doings of this 
Berengar, who now is not king but rather despot of 
Italy, and of his wife Willa, who because of her 
boundless tyranny is rightly called a second Jezebel, 
and because of her insatiate greed for plunder a Lamia 
vampire. Such shafts of falsehood, such extravagance 
of robbery, such efforts of wickedness have they 
gratuitously used againSt me and my household, my 
kinsmen and dependents, as neither tongue avails to 
express nor pen to record. Let this present page then 
be to them antapodosis, that is, repayment. In 
return for the troubles I have endured I will unveil 
to present and future generations their sacrilege 
infdme, that is, the abominable impiety of which they 
have been guilty. But my book will also be repayment 
for the benefits conferred upon me by men of sandfity 
and repute. Of all those whose deeds are recorded, 
or are worth recording, in history, there are few or 
none — except only this accursed Berengar of course — 
for whose kindness the fathers and sons of my family 
have not to render hearty thanks. Finally, that this 
book has been written en captivite, that is, in my 
captivity and sojourning abroad, my present exile 
shows. I began it at Frankfort, a place twenty miles 

109 



Antapodosis 

from Maintz, and I am pushing on with, it to-day in 
the island of Paxo, nine hundred or more miles from 
Constantinople. But let me return to my subject. 

Ch. II. After the death of King Berengar and 
during Rodulf ’s absence the mad rage of the Hungarians 
under Salard’s leadership extended through all Italy. 
Finally they surrounded the city of Pavia with earth- 
works, and pitching their tents in a circle round the 
town cut off all exit. The citizens, owing to their 
paft sins, could not resist them in battle nor were they 
able to appease them by gifts. 

Ch. III. 

Now Phoebus passing from the sign of rain 
Had to the Zodiac’s entrance come again, 

And Aeolus to melt the mountain snows 
With all the fury of the March wind blows ; 
When lo, the fierce Hungarians on him call 
And fling their torches o’er the city wall. 

The breezes spread the flames, nor are the foe 
Content with that : on every side they go, 

And as the townsfolk from the burning flee 
They send them down to death in impious glee. 
Our fair Pavia falls consumed in fire, 

And Vulcan rising high in windy ire 
Through all the city runs his deadly race 
And grips our churches in his fierce embrace. 
Children fall lifeless at their mothers’ sides, 

And maids unwed who now shall ne’er be brides. 
Even the novices, that sacred band, 

Muft share the ruin of their native land, 

And our good paftor dies in his dear town, 

As Bishop John to all the people known. 

The gold that we in cheats had stored away, 

Left any ftrangers on it hands should lay, 

Runs through the sewers, mixed with mud and 
mire. 


IIO 



Tit-for-Tat 

Our fair Pavia falls consumed in fire ! 

Bright silver bowls to molten metal turn ; 

The very corpses in the graveyard burn ; 

Jasper and topaz, beryls, sapphires bright. 

Melt in the heat and vanish from men’s sight. 

The merchants now for gold feel no desire. 

Our fair Pavia falls consumed in fire ! 

Not e’en the Ticinus avails to save 

The ships that ride upon its crystal wave ; 

Their bilges blaze. And soon, ah woe the day ! 

Our fair Pavia in fire has passed away. 

This happened in the year of Our Lord nine hundred 
and twenty four and in the twelfth indidtion period, 
at nine o’clock in the morning of the twelfth of March, 
that being the sixth day of the week. I earnestly pray 
all those who saw that conflagration, and all those 
who read of it here, to give that disaster the honour 
of pious remembrance. 

Ch. IF. But the sword of the righteous and 
almighty Lord, of whose judgments and mercy the 
prophet sings together and whose mercy fills the world, 
did not rage againft us to the end. For though Pavia 
was burning in punishment for her sins, she was not 
delivered over into the hands of her enemies. So the 
words of the prophet king are fulfilled 1 : — “ Will the 
Lord caSt off for ever ? And will He be favourable 
no more ? Is His mercy clean gone for ever ? Doth 
His promise fail for evermore ? Hath God forgotten 
to be gracious ? Hath He in anger shut up his tender 
mercies ? Selah.” And again another prophet says : a 
“ In wrath remember mercy Therefore it was that 
those of the people who survived the fire offered a 
Stout resistance to the Hungarians and at the end 
could sing joyfully with the prophet : — “ This is a 
change wrought by the hand of the HigheSt 

1 Psaltns lxxvii, 7. 2 Hahakkuk> iii, 2, 


III 



Antapodosis 

Ch. V. A further help and assistance to us was the 
intercession in glory of Saint Syrus, our holy father 
and famous mafter, whose relics lie in the aforesaid 
town. It was to fulfil his prophecy that the city of 
Pavia was brought so near to falling and then was set 
free by God’s mercy. Saint Hermagoras, a disciple 
of Mark the evangelist, sent Syrus to preach the 
gospel at Pavia, and the holy father, filled with the 
spirit of prophecy, honoured her with the following 
presage : 

Ch. VI. “ Rejoice, O city of Pavia, and be glad, 
for exultation shall come to thee from the mountains 
without. Thou shalt be called not leaSt among thy 
neighbouring cities but full of plenty.” In order that 
this prophecy might win firmer credence, he that 
same hour a n nounced the fall of the well known city 
of Aquileia in these words : “ Woe to thee, Aquileia ! 
Thou shalt fall into the hands of impious men, and 
thou shalt be destroyed, nor shalt thou be rebuilt and 
rise again.” That these warnings were fulfilled the 
plain evidence of our eyes shows. Aquileia, once a 
great and wealthy city, was taken by Attila, the 
impious king of the Huns, and completely demolished, 
nor does there seem at present any chance of its 
revival. Pavia, however, as the saint predicted, is 
Still called and seen to be a land of plenty. Not only 
does she surpass her neighbours in wealth but she 
outshines cities far away. Why mention other places, 
when glorious Rome herself, the beSt known city in 
the world, would be inferior to Pavia if she did not 
possess the precious relics of the blessed apoStles ? It 
is plain therefore that Pavia was saved by the inter- 
cession of our patron Saint Syrus who honoured her 
with so true and precious a prediction. To conclude, 
after burning Pavia and collecting much booty from 
all Italy, the Hungarians returned to their own land. 


1 12 



Tit-for-Tat 

Ch. VII. At this time, Adalbert marquess of Ivrea 
being now dead, his wife Ermengarde, daughter of 
Berta and Adalbert marquess of Tuscana, held the 
chief authority in all Italy. The cause of her power, 
shameful though it be even to mention it, was that 
she carried on carnal commerce with everyone, prince 
and commoner alike. 

Ch. VIII. About the same time King Rodulf 
returned from Burgundy to Italy and seized the 
throne left vacant by Berengar’s death. Soon, how- 
ever, all Italy was in a turmoil of strife. Ermengarde’s 
beauty in this corruptible flesh roused the fiercest 
jealousies among men ; for she would give to some the 
favours she refused to others. In consequence, the 
rich archbishop of Milan and some others supported 
Rodulf, but Ermengarde had so many rebels on her 
side that they ftoutly prevented the king from entering 
Pavia, the chief city of the realm. 

Ch. IX. So King Rodulf collected a force and 
marched thither, pitching his camp a mile from the 
town juft where the Ticinus and the mighty Po join. 
Virgil sings the praises of that great river, calling him 
“ Eridanus, king of rivers ” and “ the horned ruler of 
Hesperia’s streams ”. Ermengarde thereupon with her 
usual cunning sent the following letter by night across 
the river to the king : 

Ch. X. “ If I had wished your ruin, you would 
have been crushed long ago. Were I but to give my 
consent, all your men are eager to abandon you and 
give me their enthusiastic support. You are in such 
a position that you would have been taken prisoner 
and put in chains long ago if I had agreed to their 
proposals.” Not only did the king believe this message 
but he was so frightened by it that he sent back an 
envoy to say that he would do whatever she advised. 
Then things moved quickly. The next night King 

n 3 



Antapodosis 

Rodulf left his army, left his tent, left his bed unslept 
in, and unseen by the guards stepped on board a boat 
and hurried off to Ermengarde. 

Ch. XI. So in the morning when the soldiers 
walked round the king’s tent they found that all was 
quiet inside. His captains arrived and were filled 
with wonder why the king was sleeping at such a 
ffcrange hour. As once the eunuchs tried to wake 
Holophemes, so now they tried to wake him by 
shouting : but he, like Holophernes, made no reply. 
At la£fc they burft into the tent, only to find that there 
was nothing there. Some cried that he had been 
kidnapped, others that he had been murdered : no 
one could possibly suppose that he had turned deserter. 
As they wavered between surprise and doubt, news 
came that Rodulf was on the point of attacking them 
with their enemies. At this they were seized with 
consternation and began to retreat with such speed 
that, if you had seen them, you would have said they 
were flying rather than running. 

Ch. XII. When they reached safety in Milan 
Archbishop Lampert with every one’s consent sent 
a message to Hugh, the powerful and prudent count 
of Provence, begging him to come to Italy, drive 
Rodulf from the throne, and take the kingship him- 
self. Hugh had for a long time been making frequent 
experiments, to see if he could possibly win the Italian 
throne. Indeed in the days of the aforesaid King 
Berengar he had come into Italy with a large force. 
But he had found that his time was not yet, and 
Berengar had driven him off in rout. 

Ch. XIII. Finally Rodulf, not being able owing to 
the disloyalty of his supporters to overcome his 
aforesaid enemies, went to Burgundy and proposed 
to Bruchard duke of Swabia, whose daughter he had 
married, that he should come to his help. Bruchard 

ir 4 



Tit-for-Tat 

immediately collected his forces and set out for Italy 
with Rodulf ; and on their arrival at Ivrea he addressed 
him thus : 

Ch. XIV. “ It seems not unsuitable that I myself 
should go to Milan under pretext of an embassy. I 
shall thus have the opportunity to reconnoitre the 
town, and find out the people’s inclinations.” He 
accordingly set out, and on his arrival at Milan, before 
entering the city, turned aside to pray in the church 
of the precious saint and martyr Laurence. His real 
objedt, people say, was not to offer up petitions but 
something quite different. As the church is near the 
city and built of wonderfully coftly materials, it is 
said that he meant to mate a stronghold of it and had 
determined to shut up within its walls not only the 
chief men of Milan but many of the Italian princes. 
As he was coming out and was riding near the city 
walls, he addressed his men in their own, that is, 
in the German language, thus : “ If I do not make all 
the Italians use one spur instead of two and spoil the 
look of the mares they ride, my name is not Bruchard. 
As for the Strength and height of these walls, in whose 
protection they truSt, I snap my fingers at them. By 
one thruSt of my spear I will fling my enemies dead 
from the rampart.” He said this because he thought 
that none of his enemies there knew the German 
language. But unfortunately for him there was a man 
there, a humble fellow in rags, who was acquainted 
with that tongue ; and he immediately informed 
Archbishop Lampert of what he had heard. The 
latter, who was a man of shrewd wit, concealed his 
suspicions and evil intentions from Bruchard and gave 
him a very honourable reception ; among other things 
allowing him, as a special privilege, to hunt the ftag 
in his private park, a favour which he never granted 
to any but his greatest and dearedt friends. Meanwhile, 

”5 



Antapodosis 

however, he invited all the princes of Pavia and 
some of the Italians as well to come and put Bruchard 
to death. Then he kept him at Milan until he 
thought that all those who were to kill him had 
assembled. 

Cb. XV. Accordingly Bruchard at laft left Milan 
and the same day reached Novara. He flayed there 
the night and arose at dawn to proceed to Ivrea, 
when suddenly the hofts of Italy appeared and fell 
upon him. He did not hasten to attack them, as a 
man of valour should, but attempted to escape. And 
since, according to the words of Saint Job, his destined 
end could not be avoided, and a horse is a treacherous 
safeguard, his mount fell into the ditch that surrounded 
the city walls and flung him to earth. The Italians 
at once rushed upon him and ftabbed him to death 
with their spears. His followers, seeing this and 
having no other means of escape, took refuge in the 
church of Saint Gaudentius confessor of Chrift ; but 
the Italians filled with rage and indignation at 
Bruchard’s threats, broke down the church doors 
and killed everyone they found there even at the 
altar. 

Ch. XVI. When Rodulf heard of this he left Italy 
and made his way in hot hafte to Burgundy. Mean- 
while Hugh, count of Arles and Provence, had taken 
ship and was hastening across the Gulf of Lyons to 
Italy. God, who wished him to be king of Italy, sent 
him favourable winds and soon brought him to 
Alphea, that is, to Pisa, the chief town of the province 
of Tuscany, of which Virgil sings — “ Pisa of Alphean 
origin ”. 

Ch. XVII. On his arrival he was met by an envoy 
from John of Ravenna, Pope of Rome. Envoys from 
almoft all the Italians were also there who invited him 
earnestly to reign over them. As he had for a long 

ir6 



Tit-for-Tat 

time desired this, he went in haste to Pavia and there 
was unanimously called to the throne. Soon after- 
wards he went to Mantua, where Pope John met him 
and concluded a treaty of alliance. 

Cb. XV 111. At this time Berta, mother of King 
Hugh, died, and her son Wido by Adalbert, who had 
married the Roman harlot Marozia, took possession 
of the march of Tuscany. 

Cb. XIX. King Hugh was a man of no less learning 
than boldness, as Strong in courage as he was in cunning, 
a worshipper of God and a lover of those who loved 
our holy religion, anxious in relieving the needs of the 
poor and solicitous for the welfare of the church : 
clerics and scholars he not only loved but treated with 
signal respeft. But all these high qualities were 
marred by the way he yielded to the allurements of 
women. 

Cb. XX. He had married a princess named Alda, a 
German Frank by descent, who had borne him a son 
called Lothair. He had also had at that time by a 
noble lady called Wandelmoda a son Hubert, who is 
Still alive and is known as a powerful prince in the 
province of Tuscany. Of Hubert’s exploits we will 
speak, with God’s favour, in the proper place. 

Cb. XXI. When Hugh had thus been made king, 
being a prudent man he sent envoys all over the world 
to seek the friendship of kings and princes. He did 
this to many, but he was especially anxious to win the 
support of the famous King Henry, who, as we said 
above, was then ruling over the Bavarians, the Swab- 
ians, the Lotharingians, the Franks and the Saxons. 
He had also subdued the countless Slav tribes and 
made them tributary. Moreover he was the firft king 
to subjugate the Danes and make them his vassals. 
As the result of all this his fame had spread among 
many nations. 

117 



Antapodosis 

Ch. XXII. While King Hugh was thus seeking the 
friendship of the neighbouring kings and princes, he 
was also anxious to make his name known to the 
Greeks in distant lands. At that time they were 
ruled by the Emperor Romanos, a man well worthy of 
praise and remembrance, generous, courteous, wise and 
pious. To Romanos Hugh sent my father as envoy, 
choosing him because of his upright character and 
powers of witty speech. 

Ch . XXIII. On my father’s arrival, among the other 
gifts that King Hugh had sent for the Emperor 
Romanos he led forward two dogs, of a breed that 
had never been seen before in that country. As soon 
as they appeared before the emperor they became 
furious and would have bitten him severely if they 
had not been restrained by force. I imagine that 
when they saw his Strange dress and the Greek hood 
that covered his face they thought he was a monSter 
not a man. 

Ch. XXIV. My father was received by the emperor 
with signal marks of honour. And this was not so 
much due to the novelty of his arrival nor the splendour 
of the gifts he brought, but rather to the fadt that on 
his arrival at Salonica some of the Slavs, who were in 
revolt againSt Romanos and were plundering the 
diSlridf, made an attack upon him. By God’s grace 
many of them were killed and two of their chiefs 
were taken alive in the fighting. When my father 
brought his prisoners into the emperor’s presence, 
Romanos was excessively pleased and gave him a 
handsome present, so that he returned to his master 
King Hugh rejoicing. A few days after his return, 
however, he was taken ill and went into a monastery, 
where a fortnight after assuming the monastic dress 
he died and passed away to the Lord, leaving me, a 
young child, behind him. 

118 



Tit-for-Tat 

But since I have mentioned the Emperor Romanos, 
it seems not out of place to insert here an account of 
his origin and how he made his way to the imperial 
dignity. 

Ch. XXV. In the reign of Leo father of the 
present Constantine, the Emperor Romanos, although 
he was pauvre , that is, poor, was regarded by everyone 
as un bomme utile, that is, as a useful fellow. He was 
then an ordinary sailor in the emperor’s pay serving 
with the fleet. On several occasions en bataille , that 
is, in battle he rendered services that were ires utiles , 
that is, very useful ; and finally as a reward his superior 
officer donna lui le rang de capitaine, that is, gave him 
the rank of captain. One night he went out to 
reconnoitre the Saracens’ position and came to a 
place where there was a marsh and a thick bed of 
reeds. At that moment it happened that a fierce 
lion leaped out from the rushes, and driving a herd 
of deer into the marsh, seized one of them and pro- 
ceeded to satisfy on it his ravenous hunger. Romanos , 
entendant le vacarme , etait trds effrayS , when Romanos 
heard the noise he was very frightened ; for he thought 
it was a band of Saracens who had sighted him and 
meant to kill him in an ambush. So the next day he 
got up tris matinal, that is very early in the morning, 
and upon examining the ground discovered the lion’s 
footprints and realized sur le champ, that is, immedi- 
ately what had happened. As the lion was Atill 
lurking in the reeds Romanos ordered his men to set 
them alight with Greek fire, which can only be 
extinguished by acid. Now in the middle of the reeds 
there was a raised piece of ground thickly overgrown 
where the lion took refuge and escaped the flames ; 
for the wind, blowing In the opposite direction, 
prevented the fire from reaching that spot. When the 
flames had gone out, Romanos accompanied by a single 

119 



Antapodosis 

attendant and carrying only a sword in one hand and 
a cloak in the other went over all the ground and 
searched it thoroughly to see if he could find the 
lion’s bones or any other sign of him. He could not 
find anything and was on the point of returning when 
he was taken with a fancy to investigate why the 
hillock had so Strangely escaped being burned. So the 
two men sat down close to it and were talking about 
something or other when the lion heard them : he 
could not see them, since his eyes were blinded par 
la fumde, that is, by the smoke. Therefore, wishing 
to assuage on them the furious anger which the fire 
had kindled in his breaSt, the monSter crept to the 
place where he heard voices and with a swift leap 
landed between them. The servant was panic Sticken, 
but not so Romanos. Determining that “ though the 
whole world in ruin fall, the crash should Strike him 
undismayed he flung the cloak he was carrying 
in his hand between the lion’s fore paws. While the 
beaSt was tearing at the Stuff as though it were a man, 
Romanos got behind him and using all his Strength 
thruSt his sword right through the place where his 
buttocks joined. As his legs were thus severed and 
separated one from the other, the lion could not Stand 
and fell in a heap. After having thus killed the lion 
Romanos looked round for his servant, and seeing him 
lying some way off half-dead on the ground raised his 
voice and called loudly to him. The fellow made no 
reply, and so Romanos went to him and kicking him 
with his foot cried, “ LUve-toi, pauvre miserable ; n’aie 
pas peur ”, that is, ££ Get up, you poor miserable, and 
don’t be afraid At that the servant got up ; but 
when he saw the monStrous bulk of the lion he could 
scarcely breathe for admiration. Indeed tout le monde 
merveilla au fait de Romanos , that is, every one was 

1 Horace, Odes> III, iii, 7. 


120 



Tit-for-Tat 

astonished when they heard of Romanos’ exploit. And 
so not long afterwards, as a reward for this glorious 
deed and for his other services, the emperor gave him 
the rani of admiral and ordered that tons les bateaux, 
that is, all the ships should be under his control and 
obey his orders. 

Ch. XXVI. Finally Leo, the moSt pious emperor of 
the Greeks, of whom we have made mention above, 
paid the debt of mortal life, and trod the path of 
all human flesh, leaving as his heirs his brother Alex- 
ander and his only son Constantine, who is Still alive 
and happily reigning, he being then an infant ne 
pouvant pas parler, that is, not able to talk. As 
guardians of the palace and his private eState he 
appointed, as is the custom there, the eunuch who held 
the office of High Chamberlain and Focas commander 
in chief of the land forces. To Romanos, who was not 
a man of high birth but was of signal courage, he gave 
the poSt of Lord High Admiral of the fleet. Alexander 
died soon after his brother and left the little ConStan- 
tine sole emperor. Now when the great emperor 
Leo departed from this life to go to ChriSt, the 
aforesaid Focas, commander-in-chief of the land forces, 
had led an army againSt Simeon king of the Bulgarians 
and by force of arms prevented his projected advance 
on Constantinople. Romanos, for his part, being a 
man of some shrewdness, when he heard of the death 
of the two emperors Leo and Alexander, got together 
a body of men from the fleet and collecting his ships 
made his way to a little island near Constantinople, 
almoSt within sight of the imperial palace. He 
himself, however, never crossed the water and refrained 
from paying the cuStomary homage to the little 
emperor who had been born in the purple. This condudt 
of his caused no small dismay and alarm to the eunuch 
chamberlain and all the chief men in Constantinople. 


121 



Antapodosis 

They therefore sent messengers and enquired the 
reason of his Grange adtion, asking why he did not 
pay a visit to the monarch and render him the homage 
that was his due. Romanos replied that he had 
avoided the palace because he feared for his own life ; 
and he added that if the chamberlain and the other 
lords did not come to see him and guarantee him his 
life and position, he would very soon join the king of 
the Saracens in Crete, and would help him with all 
his might to subdue the Greek realm. How cunningly 
this was said the issue will declare. Well, as we have 
mentioned, the terrified princes, little guessing that 
a snake was lurking for them in the grass, came in all 
confidence to see him, anxious and willing to do all 
that he wanted. But Romanos, following out his 
clever plan, as soon as they arrived, had them bound 
and Slowed away in the hold, while he himself, free 
now from all apprehension, hastened with a numerous 
band of followers to the city. He there purged the 
palace of all whom he suspedfed to be againft bim and 
put his own partizans in their place. Governor, 
superintendents, patricians, accountants, head-Sleward, 
lord of the chamber, chamberlains, kni ghts of the 
sword of all three classes, and sea-lord were now every- 
one creatures of his own appointment. Finally, to 
secure the success of his plans completely, he won the 
affedHons of Zoe, the little emperor’s mother, and was 
admitted to her intimate favours. All the city was 
crowned with garlands, and Romanos everywhere was 
hailed as “ Father of the emperor ”. 

Ch. XXVII. General Focas, who himself ardently 
desired to have that title, heard of what Romanos 
had done when he was fighting against the Bulgarians 
and on the point of triumphing over the enemy. So 
dismayed and indignant was he at the news that he 
flung down the ftandard of victory, abandoned his 

122 



Tit-for-Tat 

pursuit of the foe, and retiring himself from the field 
compelled his men to do the same. The Bulgarians, 
cheered on by Simeon, plucked up courage, and soon 
were successfully attacking the very army from which 
juft now they had fled in rout. The carnage among 
the Greeks was prodigious ; so prodigious indeed that 
many years later the battle field ftfll seemed full of 
bones. 

Cb. XXVIII. The aforesaid General Focas then 
returned in all hafte to Constantinople, meaning to 
break his way into the palace and become “ Father of 
the Emperor ” by force and not by fraud. But as 
Horace says 1 : — 

“ Brute force devoid of wisdom falls 
By its own weight : but if we blend 
Vigour with wisdom, heaven calls 
Our strength to some great end.” 

And so it was that the general was taken prisoner by 
Romanos and had both his eyes put out. The 
Bulgarians for their part gained a great increase in 
strength, and they repaid the Greeks two-fold by 
ravaging their country. 

Cb. XXIX. According to common report their king 
Simeon was un demi-Grec, that is, half a Greek, and 
in his boyhood was taught at Byzantium the rhetoric 
of Demofthenes and the logic of Ariftotle. Later on, 
people say, he abandoned his literary studies and 
assumed the dress of a monk. But he soon left the 
calm retreat of a monastery for the ftorms of this 
world, and beguiled by desire of kingship preferred to 
follow in the footfteps of the apoftate Julian rather 
than in those of Saint Peter, the holy keeper of the 
keys of heaven. He had two sons, one called Bojan, 
the other Peter, this latter being ftill alive and now 
ruling over the Bulgarians. It is said that Bojan was 

1 Horace, Odes , III, iv, 65. 


123 



Antapodosis 

such, an adept in the art of magic that he could 
suddenly turn himself before men’s eyes into a wolf 
or any other beaSt you pleased. 

Ch. XXX. The same year that Romanos gained 
the title “ Father of the Emperor ”, he married 
his daughter Helena to his master, the little Emperor 
Constantine Porphyrogenitus. This latter name 
means, as I have said before, not “ born in the purple ”, 
but born in the Porphyra palace. And since the topic 
has come up, it may not be out of place to set forth 
again what I have heard about the birth of this 
Porphyrogenitus. You will find the previous passage 
in the firSt book of this hiStory, from the sixth to the 
tenth chapter. 

Ch. XXXI. The auguSt Emperor ConStantine, from 
whom the city of Constantinople gets its name, 
ordered ce palais , this palace, to be built and called it 
Porphyra. His intention was that the successive 
rulers of his noble should here fxrSt see the light of day, 
and that all the offspring of his line should be called 
by the glorious title of Porphyrogenitus. Some people 
therefore say that our ConStantine, son of the 
Emperor Leo, is his descendant. But la verity de 
son naissance, that is, the truth about his birth is as 
follows. 

Ch. XXXII. The auguSt Emperor Basil, the present 
emperor’s grandfather, was born of a humble family 
in Macedonia and under the compelling yoke of 
poverty came to Constantinople where he took service 
with a certain abb&, that is, abbot. The then emperor, 
Michael, went to the monastery, where he was serving, 
to offer up prayer, and seeing that he was exceptionally 
comely called the abbe and asked him to give him the 
lad. He then took him to the palace and made him 
his chamberlain ; and in a little time he became so 
powerful that everyone called him the second emperor. 

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Tit-for-Tat 

Almighty God is ever juft, even when He visits 
His servants with a heavy hand. He did not allow the 
emperor to keep sane all his life ; but His purpose was 
that the mercy of His kindness above might equal the 
severity of His punishment below. We are told that 
Michael in his mad fits frequently sent off his dearest 
friends to be beheaded. But when he returned to 
his senses he would ask for them again, and unless the 
condemned men were forthcoming their executioners 
were themselves put to death. His servants accor- 
dingly became alarmed, and when he ordered an 
execution they did not put it into effeCt. This 
happened several times to Basil, and finally, his 
partizans gave him — O shame ! — this advice : — “ The 
king’s mad order may some day be carried out design- 
edly, if he gives it to your enemies and not to your 
friends. You had better kill him firft and take the 
imperial sceptre Under the compulsion of fear, 
and beguiled by desire of rule, Basil carried out this 
suggestion at once. Michael was murdered and Basil 
became emperor. 

Ch. XXXIII. A short time afterwards Our Lord 
Jesus Chrift appeared to him in a vision, holding the 
hand of his former mafter, the emperor, whom he had 
murdered, and addressed him thus : “ Basil, why did 
you kill your master here, the emperor Michael ? ” 
When he awoke he realized that he had been guilty of 
a heinous crime, and collecting his thoughts began to 
consider what he should do. 

Ch. XXXIV. Accordingly, comforted by Our Lord’s 
acceptable promise of salvation, given by the mouth of 
His prophet, that on the day when the wicked man. 
turneth from his wickedness he shall be saved, he made 
confession with tears and groans, and acknowledged 
himself a sinner, the shedder of innocent blood. He 
also followed good advice and made friends to himself 

125 



Antapodosis 

of the mammon of unrighteousness, helping them here 
with temporal subsidies that their prayers might 
release him later from the everlasting fires of hell. 
Moreover he built near the palace a wonderful and 
coStly church facing eastwards in honour of the 
archangel Michael, whom the Greeks call general of 
the hoSfcs of heaven. The church itself is called by 
some people Id nouvelle eglise, that is, the new church ; 
by others Id neuj , because the clock that marks the 
office hours always strikes nine. 

Ch. XXXV. Now in the second year after Romanos 
received the title of u Father of the Emperor”, he 
called the princes to him and addressed them thus : 
“ Princes of the Roman State, since on your advice I 
have received the title of * Father of the Emperor 
and furthermore share in the loyalty due to our holy 
emperor by reason of his marriage to my daughter 
Helen des yeux verts , that is, of the green eyes, I think 
it only right that I should show upon my person some 
outward mark of my imperial rank and wear some 
article of dress that would be to all men a sign of my 
position”. Accordingly the people decided and it 
was unanimously decreed that since he was a person 
of such distinction and by marriage had set on the 
throne his daughter Helen des brds blanches, that is, 
of the white arms, he should wear the red leather 
shoes which are there reserved for the emperor. But 
even that did not satisfy him. After a year had 
elapsed and his power had become more assured, he 
addressed the princes again as follows : “ Since it 
has been decided by your unanimous verdidt that I 
should wear the imperial shoes, I thank you, tres 
nobles heros, that is, moSt noble heroes, for your good 
will and authority. It seems to me that this is un 
don precieux, that is, a precious gift ; but on careful 
consideration I also think that when I walk abroad I 

126 



Tit-for-Tat 

look like an adtor or mime, who paints himself in gay 
colours to raise an easy laugh from the crowd. Indeed 
I make myself as well as other people smile, for I seem 
to wear shoes of the imperial pattern and a head dress 
like that of the common people. ‘ Could there be 
better farce than this or mime more humorous ? n 
Therefore, either give me the crown or else take away 
the imperial shoes which make me a common laughing 
Stock ”. 

This was plain enough, and his words were backed 
up by the irresistible power of his position. Accor- 
dingly by universal consent he was given the crown 
without having to forfeit the diftinftion of the 
shoes. Let no one wonder at his wisdom, but let him 
from the depth of his heart give praise to God, who 
lifteth up the oppressed and looseth the prisoners, in 
whose hand is a cup, and the wine is red ; it is full 
of mixture ; and from this to that he poureth out of 
the same. 

Ch. XXXVI. Romanos was of humble origin, an 
Armenian by birth, and had never thought that he 
would be admitted to the royal court, much less hold 
the imperial sceptre. But what says the prophet 
Hannah ? a “ The Lord maketh poor and maketh 
rich : he bringeth low and lifteth up. He raiseth 
up the poor out of the duSt and lifteth up the beggar 
from the the dunghill, to set them among princes and 
to make them inherit the throne of glory : for the 
pillars of the earth are the Lord’s.” Therefore to 
the one God, immortal and invisible, be honour and 
glory world without end. Amen. 

Ch. XXXVII. When Romanos finally became 
emperor, he made his son Christopher, who had been 
born before his accession, joint ruler with himself ; 
and after he had taken control of the empire his wife 

1 Juvenal, v, 157. * 1 Samuel, ii, 7. 


127 



Antapodosis 

bore him a second son named Stephen. Later on she 
conceived a third time and bore a son who was called 
Constantine. All these sons Romanos made emperors 
contrary to human and divine law, and gave his firSt 
born Christopher precedence over his rightful maSter, 
the emperor ConStantine Porphyrogenitus. This he 
did openly, and when they walked en procession, that 
is, in public procession to Santa Sophia, or at the palace 
of Blachernai, or at the feaSt of the Holy ApoStles, 
Romanos with his firSt born Christopher went in 
front, ConStantine Porphyrogenitus and his other two 
sons followed behind. With what wrath the JuSt 
Judge visited this conduit His subsequent vengeance 
will show ; for soon afterwards Christopher died. And 
so ConStantine Porphyrogenitus commended himself 
altogether to the Lord’s care and spending his 
leisure in prayer and reading gained a livelihood by 
the work of his hands. He certainly was a skilful 
artiSt, and ses tableaux , that is, his paintings were very 
fine. 

Ch. XXXV Ul. At this same period Simeon of 
Bulgaria began to press the Greeks very hard. Accor- 
dingly Romanos arranged a marriage between the 
daughter of his son Christopher and Simeon’s son 
Peter, who is Still alive. He thus checked the fierce 
attacks that Simeon had begun and allied him to 
himself by a treaty of friendship. As a result the 
bride changed her name to Irene, which means peace ; 
because by her agency peace was firmly established 
between the Bulgarians and the Greeks. 

Ch. XXXIX. At this period Walpert and Everard 
Gezo were men of great influence in Pavia and a£ted 
as judges there. The reason of Walpert’s power was 
that he had made his son Peter bishop of the rich 
diocese of Como, and had married his daughter Roza 
to Gilbert, count of the palace. At that time however 

128 



Tit-for-Tat 

both Peter and Gilbert were dead. The people of 
Pavia were in the habit of coming to him, and arguing 
all their disputes and law cases in his presence. The 
aforesaid Everard Gezo had a share of bis power, as he 
was united to him by ties of marriage, and was regarded 
as a man of weight. Gezo however disgraced his 
high position by his infamous conduct. He was 
over-ambitious, greedy, envious, seditious, a cor- 
rupter of law, and careless of God’s precepts : and 
these ways God did not allow to go unpunished. Not 
to make too long a ftory, Gezo was in all respedts like 
Catiline, and as the Roman tried to murder Marcus 
Tullius Cicero, the consul and defender of the Hate, 
so Gezo plotted to bring King Hugh to death. One 
day, when Hugh, suspedting no danger, was flaying at 
Pavia with a few attendants, Gezo planned to raise 
a revolt and fall upon him. Walpert, however, was 
not of such a violent disposition, and by his intervention 
the attempt was postponed. 

Ch. XL. Still, even these men were checked in 
their wild schemes by the honeyed blandishments of 
King Hugh’s eloquence. When he was told that a 
revolt was brewing and that the conspirators were 
gathered at Walpert’s house, he sent envoys to them 
and addressed them in this language : — “ Why, my 
brave comrades, are you so ftrangely wrath with your 
liege lord and king ? If anything has been done that 
displeases you, there is time to put it right. Even a 
late reformation will put an end to censure, especially 
when the delay has not been caused by wilful in- 
difference ”. This message considerably appeased 
their anger, and Gezo was left in a minority of one. 
He Hill persisted in his naughtiness, and did his bell 
to get the others to fall upon the king and put him 
to a shameful death. But by the dispensation of 
God, his evil purpose was not carried into effedt. The 

129 



Antapodosis 

messengers accordingly returned to the king and told 
him all that they had seen and heard. 

Ch. XLI. King Hugh then craftily pretended, to 
regard all this as of no importance, and leaving 
Pavia hastened to a spot some considerable distance 
away, where by means of messengers and letters he 
bade his vassals assemble. Among those who came 
to him was the powerful count Samson, Gezo’s bitter 
enemy. When Samson saw the king he addressed 
h im thus “ I have noticed that you are disturbed 
by the disloyal plot that recently was hatched againft 
you in Pavia. If you listen to me and take my advice, 
the rebels will be caught in their own snare. It 
would not be easy to find a man who can suggest, a 
better plan than mine, and I am sure that none will 
be more advantageous to yourself personally. But 
there is one thing I ask for. When by my help you 
have caught the gang, give Gezo with all his goods and 
chattels into my hands ”. On the king consenting 
to this, he added : — “ Leo Bishop of Pavia is known 
to be no friend to Walpert and Gezo, and they oppose 
bim in every way they can. You know that it is the 
custom when the king is on his way to Pavia for the 
more important citizens to meet him outside the city. 
Tell the bishop secretly that you are coming to Pavia 
on a date that you will fix, and inftrudt him to have all 
the city gates locked after these fellows have come 
outside to meet you, and to keep the keys under his 
own charge. Then, when We begin to arreft them, 
they will not be able to escape back to the city nor 
have any help to hope for from the city ”. This 
plan was put into effedt. The king came to Pavia at 
the fixed time, the conspirators came out to meet 
him, and the bishop gladly carried out his inftrudtions. 
The king gave orders for them all to be arrested, as 
he had been advised, and Gezo was handed over to 

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Tit-for-Tat 

Samson, who put out both his eyes and cut off the 
tongue which had spoken blasphemy againft the king. 
How happy would it have been if Gezo, besides being 
blinded, had been rendered dumb for all time ! But, 
shame upon it ! though his tongue was cut off he did 
not lose the power of speech ; and the loss of his 
eyes, according to the Greek ftory, actually prolonged 
his life, so that up till to-day he has been a constant 
source of mischief and calamity. 

A merry ftory in the frivolous Greek fashion, giving 
the reason why blind men are long lived, may be 
inserted here. It runs as follows. “ Zeus et Hera se 
disputerent au sujet de V amour, four savoir si c’etait 
Vhomme ou la femme qui eprouve le plus grand plaisir a 
la cdpulation. Ils poser ent alors la question a. T iresias, 
f>ls d’ Ebros. Celui-ci avait deja pris successivement 
les deux sexes, apres qu’il avait Joule un serpent aux 
pieds. II prononce alors contre Hera, et celle~ci en 
colere le rendit avengle. Mais Zeus lui accorda de 
vivre pendant de longues annees et que tout ce qu’il 
dirait serait de vraies propheties .” The translation is 
this. “ Zeus and Hera argued about love, whether 
it was the man or the woman who got the greater 
pleasure from coition. They put the question to 
Tiresias, son of Ebros ; for he, after treading on a 
snake, had been changed from one sex to the other. 
He pronounced against Hera, and the goddess in anger 
made him blind. But Zeus gave him long life and 
the power of prophecy for ever.” 

But let us return to our subject. Gezo, as we have 
said, was mutilated in body and deprived of all his 
possessions. Mo£t of his confederates were handed 
over to guards and put in prison. Walpert the next 
day was beheaded and his immense treasures seized. 
Cristina his wife was arrested and cruelly tortured to 
make her reveal his hidden wealth. From that day 

* 3 * 



Antapodosis 

not only in Pavia but in all parts of Italy men’s fear 
of the king increased, and Hugh was not treated as a 
nonentity, as other kings had been, but was honoured 
in every possible way. 

Ch. XLII. At this same time Ildoin, bishop of 
Liittich, being expelled from his own see, came into 
Italy to King Hugh, with whom he was connected by 
ties of marriage. Hugh received him with all honour, 
and gave him the bishopric of Verona to supply his 
personal needs. Soon afterwards it happened that 
Archbishop Lambert died, and Ildoin was ordained in 
his place as bishop of Milan. With the aforesaid 
Ildoin there had come a certain monk named Rather, 
who because of his piety and his knowledge of the 
seven liberal arts was made bishop of Verona, of which 
town Milo, whom we have mentioned above, was then 
count. 

Ch. XLIII. Meanwhile Wido, marquess of the 
province of Tuscany, together with his wife Marozia, 
began to plot vigorously to secure the expulsion of 
Pope John. This he did owing to the ill feeling that 
he bore to the Pope’s brother Peter ; for as for the 
Pope himself he honoured him as though he had been 
his own brother. So it happened that while Peter 
was Staying at Rome Wido had a large number of 
soldiers secretly assembled there. One day, when the 
Pope and his brother and a few friends were in the 
Lateran Palace, Wido’s and Marozia’s men rushed in 
upon them and killed Peter before his brother’s eyes. 
They then arreSted the Pope and put him into prison, 
where soon afterwards he died. It is said that they 
put a pillow over his mouth, and cruelly suffocated 
him. On his death they appointed as Pope Marozia’s 
own son John, whom the harlot had had by Pope 
Sergius. Not long after these events Wido died, and 
his brother Lambert was appointed to his offices. 

r 3 2 



Tit-for-Tat 

Ch. XLIV. Marozia, who was a fairly shameless 
harlot, after the death of her husband WidoT sent 
envoys to King Hugh, inviting him to come to' her 
and take the famous city of Rome for himself. But 
this, she declared, could only be done if Hugh married 
her. 

Why, why, Marozia, yield to Love’s fierce fire ? 
Why kisses from your husband’s kin desire ? 

Like proud Herodias would you know the bed 
Of brothers twain and by them both be led 
In wedlock home ? Methinks you have forgot 
The words of John the Bap tiff — “ Marry not 
Your brother’s wife, and put her from you now 
The laws of Moses do not this allow. 

Marriage with brothers they permit indeed, 

But only when ’tis done to raise up seed 
For one who had no children ere he died ; 

And all men know you as a fruitful bride 
Who to your lord bore offspring. You will say — 

“ Our lady Venus drunken with love’s play 
Cares not for things like these ’Tis all too true ; 
And like an ox to sacrifice King Hugh 
Came at your summons, hoping to obtain 
Rome for himself and as her lord remain. 

O wicked wench, why seek you thus to bring 
Ruin and trouble on a righteous king ? 

Shall crime make you a queen ? Nay, God’s decree 
Ordains that you from Rome shall driven be. 

That this is correct all created things, rational and 
irrational alike, can now perceive. 

Ch. XLV. At the entrance to the city of Rome 
there is a fort, wonderfully constructed and wonder- 
fully strong. At its gates is the moSt important of 
all the bridges over the Tiber, which every one muSt 
cross in entering or leaving Rome, there being no 

133 



Antapodosis 

other way out. But passage is only possible by leave 
of those who hold the fort. The fort itself, to orn.it 
further details, is so high that the church upon its 
summit, built in. honour of the glorious archangel 
Michael, chief of the heavenly holt, as called “ the 
church of the holy angel in the skies ”. Relying on 
the Strength of this fort the king left his troops at 
some distance and came to Rome with only a few 
attendants. There he was received with all respedt 
by the Romans, but he turned aside from them to 
the bed of the harlot Marozia in the aforesaid caStle, 
and at his ease in her impure embrace began to regard 
the citizens with scorn. Now Marozia had a son 
named Alberic, whom she had borne to the marquess 
Alberic. One day, when this youth was pouring out 
water at his mother’s bidding for his Stepfather Hugh 
to wash his hands, the king hit him in the face as a 
chaSlisement for not pouring the water in a modeSt 
and respedtful fashion. Alberic determined to avenge 
this insult, and getting the Romans together addressed 
to them the following harangue : — “ The majeSty of 
Rome has sunk to such depths of folly that now she 
obeys the orders of harlots. Could there be anything 
viler or more disgraceful than that the city of Rome 
should be brought to ruin by the impurities of one 
woman, and that those who were once our slaves, the 
Burgundians I mean, should now be our masters ? 
If he hit me, his Sbepson, in the face when he had but 
juSt come here as our gueSfc, what do you suppose he 
will do to you when he has taken root in the city ? 
Are you ignorant of the Burgundians’ greed and 
pride ? Consider the very derivation of their name. 
When the Romans conquered the world they took 
many of these people captive and bade them build 
themselves houses outside Rome ; from which houses 
they were soon afterwards forced to expel them as a 

134 



Tit-for-Tat 

punishment for their insolence. We are told, there- 
fore, that as in their language a gathering of houses 
not protected by a wall is called a burgh, these folk 
were named by the Romans 4 Burgundians’, that is, 
people expelled from their burgh. If we prefer the 
name that nature gave them, they are Gauls of the 
Allobroges tribe. But I would rather truft my own 
sagacite, that is, intelligence ; and I say that ‘ Burgun- 
dian ’ is another form of ‘ Gurgulian’, and that they are 
so called either from their arrogant and guttural speech, 
or, more probably, from the way in which they use their 
gullets to indulge their greed ”. As soon as they heard 
this, all the Romans without hesitation deserted King 
Hugh and elected Alberic as their liege lord. Then, 
to prevent Hugh having any time to bring in his 
soldiers, they began at once to besiege the fort. 

Ch. XLVI. It is plain that all this was part of 
God’s dispensation and that it was His will that Hugh 
should not under any circumstances hold what he had 
attempted to win so foully by crime. The king, 
indeed, was so alarmed that he let himself down by a 
rope on the side where the fort touched the city wall, 
and deserting his lady made his escape back to his 
own men. King Hugh and the aforesaid Marozia 
being thus expelled, Alberic became sole ruler of 
Rome, while his brother John ascended the papal 
throne, the supreme and universal. 

Ch. XLVII. Some people say that Berta, King 
Hugo’s mother, never herself bore a son to her husband 
the marquess Adalbert but that she foifted Wido and 
Lambert off upon him, pretending to be with child 
and procuring the infants secretly from other women. 
Her purpose, they declare, was to have sons by her 
side after Adalbert’s death, and by their aid to get 
possession of all her husband’s offices. It seems to me 
however that this tale is a lie invented by King Hugh 

135 



Antapodosis 

to cloak his own vices and to escape from le scandale, 
that is, the scandal caused bp his improper conduit. 
An even more probable reason, I think, why the tale 
was put about is afforded bp the circumstances I have 
now to relate. Lambert, who after his brother Wido’s 
death took control of the march of Tuscanp, was a man 
of warlike spirit ready for every sort of enterprise. 
King Hugh suspended him of designs on the throne of 
Italy, and was very much afraid that the Italians 
would desert him and make Lambert king. Boso for 
his part, being King Hugh’s brother by the same 
father, was very anxious himself to become marquess 
of Tuscany, and was lying in wait, ready to entrap 
Lambert. Accordingly on Boso’s advice King Hugh 
sent a threatening message to Lambert, warning him 
not to call himself his brother any longer. To that 
Lambert, who was of a proud and undisciplined 
temper, instead of replying modeftly, as he should 
have done, returned the following violent answer : — 
“ The king cannot possibly deny that I am his brother 
and that we both came to life by the same passage 
and from the same body. This truth I desire to 
prove by the ordeal of single combat in the sight of 
all men ”. The king, hearing this, chose a certain 
youth named Teudin, who challenged Lambert to 
a duel on this score. But God is juft and of righteous 
judgment, in Him there is no iniquity. To put a 
flop to any doubt and to reveal the truth to all He 
decreed that Teudin should be overcome immedi- 
ately, and Lambert gain the victory. At this result 
King Hugh was greatly disturbed, but following his 
counsellor’s advice he took Lambert and put him in 
prison, fearing, if he let him go, that he would rob 
him of the throne. He then handed over the march 
of Tuscany to his brother Boso, and soon afterwards 
put out Lambert’s eyes. 

136 



Tit-for-Tat 

Ch. XLVIII. At this time the Italians sent to 
Burgundy asking Rodulf to come to them. King 
Hugh learned this and himself sent envoys offering 
Rodulf all the territory in Gaul which he himself had 
held before he ascended the Italian throne. Rodulf 
then gave him his oath that he would never come into 
Italy. Hugh also won the friendship of the valiant 
King Henry, whom we have mentioned before, by 
the gift of many presents, Henry being at that time 
very famous in Italy since he had subdued the Danes 
unaided and made them tributary, although they had 
never before been conquered. They are a wild people 
living on the shores of the northern ocean and their 
savage attacks have often brought sorrow to the 
nobility of many lands. At times they have come up 
the Rhine with their fleets, and have laid whole 
diffcridts wafte with fire and sword. Once they actually 
ftormed the noble cities of Agrippina, now called 
Cologne, and Treves, which is some way off the Rhine, 
together with other towns in Lothair’s realm. From 
them they carried off everything, and what they 
could not take they burned, even setting fire to the 
public baths and palaces at Aachen. But we mud 
leave these matters and return to the order of our 
narrative. 

Ch. XLIX. Arnold, duke of the Bavarians and 
Carentanians, whom we have mentioned above, being 
not far from Italy, got an army together and marched 
down to drive Hugh from the throne. He made his 
way through the march of Trient, the firft in that part 
of Italy, and arrived at Verona. There he was gladly 
welcomed by Count Milo and Bishop Rather, who had 
invited him to come. King Hugh hearing of this 
collected his troops and advanced against him. 

Ch. L. On approaching Verona Hugh sent his 
chevaliers, as the people call them, to scour the 

r 37 



Antapodosis 


country, and a battle ensued between them and a 
large force of Bavarians from the caffle of Gossolengo. 
The Bavarians were completely routed and scarcely 
a man escaped to tell the news. At this Duke Arnold 
was greatly disturbed and on the advice of his counsel- 
lors determined to leave Italy and take Count Milo 
back with him to Bavaria, so that when he had recruited 
a fresh army he might return again in his company. 

Ch. LI. Milo was aware of his intention, and 
diftradted by conflicting thoughts was quite at a loss 
to know what he should do. His pat conduct made 
him afraid to approach King Hugh, while he considered 
that to be taken off by Arnold to Bavaria was worse 
than death and as bad as hell fire. In this uncertainty, 
since he knew that Hugh was easily moved to compas- 
sion, he decided to escape from Arnold and make his 
way to the king. Arnold for his part returned with 
all possible speed to Bavaria. 

Ch. LII. Before he went, however, he tormed the 
catle of Verona and took back to Bavaria with him 
Milo’s brother and the soldiers who had tried to defend 
the place. On his departure the city was handed back 
to King Hugh, and Bishop Rather, being taken prisoner 
was sent into exile at Pavia. There he wrote a book 
describing in witty and elegant language the sorrows 
of his banishment. Those who read his narrative will 
find in it many polished thoughts suggested by that 
occasion, which will afford them as much pleasure as 
benefit. 


138 



CONTENTS 


BOOK IV 


CHAPTER 

I Of how up to this point the writer has recorded 
what he heard, and from this point will record 
what he saw ....... 

II King Hugh appoints his son Lothair king and 
goes with an army to Rome .... 

III King Hugh gives his daughter in marriage to 
Alberic, hoping by her instrumentality to deceive 
him ........ 

IV The Saracens come from Fraxinetum to Acqui, 
where they are all killed in battle 

V A fountain ran blood in Genoa, which that year 
was taken by Saracens from Africa . 

VI For what reason Manasses bishop of Arles says 
that he deserted his own church and took another . 

VII How in an inculpatory answer it is proved by the 
evidence of scripture that Manasses has done 
amiss ........ 

VIII Of Berengar’s wife and of his brother Anscar 

IX Of marquess T edbald who fought against the Greeks 
and caftrated his prisoners .... 

X Of the trick whereby a certain woman saved her 
husband from castration ..... 

XI King Hugo arreSts his brother Boso, who at his 
wife’s mitigation had turned traitor, and puts 
him into prison ...... 

XII How Hugh expelled Boso’s wife, Willa, from Italy, 
and of the belt that was found in an unseemly 
place ........ 

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PAGE 

143 

143 

H3 

144 
I44 
144 

HS 

H 7 

148 

148 

149 

I S° 



Antapodosis 


CHAPTER page 

XIII Of the death of King Rodulf, whose wife Hugh 

marries, giving her daughter to his son . . 152 

XIV Of King Hugh, who because of his concubines 

conceived hatred for his wife . . . .152 

XV Of the death of King Henr y, and where he is 

buried, and of his sons . . . . * I S3 

XVI Of the wisdom of King Henry, who appointed 

his son Otto as his successor . . . - 154 

XVII Of the English king’s niece, whom King Otto 

married before he came to the throne . . .155 

XVIII Of Henry, who rebelled against his brother at 

the iniKgation of bad advisers . . . .155 

XIX An inveddve in verse, addressed to Henry, againdt 
the devil, at whose prompting he desired to make 
war on his brother . . ♦ . . .155 

XX Of Everard who, while Henry was drill loyal to his 
brother the king, took him prisoner in a cadfcle at the 
beginning of his revolt, and carried him off to France 1 56 

XXI By what methods Everard seduced Gislebert 

from his loyalty to the king . . . .157 

XXII Gislebert and Everard release Henry from prison . 157 

XXIII Of the cunning trick whereby Everard meant to 

cheat Henry and Gislebert of the throne . .157 

XXIV Of the marvellous vidlory which King Otto 

gained by prayer, and of the wound in the arm 
that Henry received . , . . . 158 

XXV How King Henry obtained the sacred spear . .160 

XXVI A proof from sacred scripture that a vidtory or 
war of this kind is not due to chance but to God’s 
dispensation . . . . . . .161 

XXVII Of the manner in which at the irrigation of 
Archbishop Frederick many bishops desert the 
king when besieging the cadtle of Breisach . .164 

XXVIII Of King Otto’s wonderful courage and of the 

answer he gave 166 


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Tit-for-Tat 


CHAPTER 

XXIX How God fought on the king’s side, and how 
Gislebert and Everard were slain at Andernach 
by Huto and Conrad . 

XXX Of the messenger who announced their death to the 
king on his way to church .... 

XXXI King Otto informs Bertald duke of Bavaria of 
their death, and tells him that he will give him 
either his sifter or his sifter’s daughter in marriage . 

XXXII Of Archbishop Frederick, who, having previously 
deserted the king, went to the city of Metz to 
colleft: an army, and there heard of their death . 

XXXIII Of this same archbishop, who was taken and 
put in prison ....... 


XXXIV Of Henry, who was prevented by his sifter from 
taking refuge in her caftle when fighting againft the 
king 

XXXV Of Henry again, who threw himself later on the 
king’s mercy ....... 


page 

168 

169 

170 

170 

171 

171 

171 


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BOOK IV 


Ch. I. Up to this point, reverend father, I have 
set out my narrative as I heard it from the lips of 
reputable witnesses. The reft of my ffcory I shall 
relate from my own personal knowledge ; for at this 
period 1 I held a certain position at court, in that I 
had won the favour of King Hugh by my sweet voice. 
He was passionately fond of singing, and in that resped: 
none of the boys who were my contemporaries could 
surpass me. 

Ch. II. King Hugh, seeing that everything was 
prospering with him, appointed as his successor his 
son Lothair, whom he had had by his wife Alda, and 
secured universal agreement to his choice. This done, 
he began to consider how he might gain possession 
of Rome from which he had been ignominiously 
ejected. Accordingly he colleded a large force and 
set out. But though he devastated the regions and 
provinces round about in lamentable fashion and made 
daily attacks on Rome itself, he was not able to discover 
any method of forcing an entrance. 

Ch. III. At laft, hoping to deceive Alberic by 
guile, he offered him in marriage his daughter Alda, 
sifter of his son King Lothair, promising him that on 
these terms he should enjoy peace and security as 
being a member of his family. Alberic accordingly, 
who was not without sagacity, accepted his daughter 
as wife, but regarded him ftill with diftruffc and refused 
to satisfy his eager desire for the possession of Rome. 
It is true that King Hugh would eventually have 

1 A.D. 930. 


143 



Antapodosis 

ensnared and trapped Alberic avec cet hameau , that 
is, with this hook, if he had not been deceived by the 
treachery of his own men, who did not wish for any 
long peace between the two rulers. Any of his people 
that the king meant to chastise always used every 
effort to escape and take refuge with Alberic, whose 
apprehension of the king’s plans induced him to 
receive them favourably and give them a place of 
honour in Rome. 

Ch. IF. Meanwhile the Saracens, who were living 
at Fraxinetum, got a number of men together and 
advanced as far as Acqui, which is but fifty miles 
from Pavia. Leur chef, that is, their chief, the Saracen 
Sagittus was one of the worft and mofi impious of 
men. But by the grace of God when the battle took 
place le miserable, that is, the wretch, was killed with 
all his followers. 

Ch. V. About the same time at Genoa, a city in 
the Cottian Alps eight hundred furlongs from Pavia 
on the African Sea, a fountain ran copiously with 
blood, plainly showing that some disaster would soon 
befall all the inhabitants. In that same year indeed 
the Africans with a huge fleet arrived there, and taking 
the people by surprise burft into the city, massacred 
every one except the children and women, and putting 
on board ship all the treasures belonging to the city 
and to God’s churches sailed back to Africa. 

Ch. VI. At this time, King Hugh’s authority being 
now recognized, Manasses bishop of Arles, who was 
connected with Hugh by ties of marriage, left the 
church that had been entrusted to his care, and inspired 
by ambition made his way to Italy to violate and mangle 
many of the churches there. King Hugh, hoping to 
hold his throne more securely if he beftowed the various 
offices of government upon his own relatives, against 
all human and divine law handed over to him — or 

144 



Tit-por-Tat 

more exactly gave him as a bait — the churches of 
Verona, Trient and Mantua. But Manasses was not 
satisfied even with this : he took also the march of 
Trient, and at the devil’s instigation became a soldier 
and ceased to be a bishop. Mon saint pere, that is, 
my holy father, I would fain halt for a moment here, 
and after giving his own reasons for this conduct flay 
them, by God’s grace, with mine. 

Ch. VII. “ Saint Peter,” he says, “ after founding 
the church at Antioch hastened across the sea to the 
city of Rome, which then by the greatness of her power 
was miStress of the whole world. He there, by God’s 
dispensation, founded the holy church which claims 
universal veneration, handing over his former church, 
that of Antioch, to his disciple, St Mark the evangelist. 
But before that he also established the church of 
Aquileia and made a haSty journey to Alexandria. 
That this was so we are sure every one knows who has 
read the Adts of the ApoStles.” In answer to this, 
Manasses, I would have you know that your ideas 
on these sub j efts are incorredt, and you muSt understand 
that your parents realized the true meaning of your 
name. Manasses signifies “ the forgetful one ” or 
“ forgetfulness of God ”. How could your parents 
have foretold the future more exadtly or more plainly 
than by giving you this name ? You are so self 
forgetful, I repeat, that you do not even remember 
that you are a human being. The devil knows the 
Scriptures, and being himself perverse interprets them 
perversely, using them not to save but to destroy men. 
Do you not know that when he impiously attempted 
to wound Our Lord and Redeemer Jesus ChriSfc with 
the weapons of temptation, he made evil use of these 
prophetic words 1 : “ He has given his angels charge 
over thee, to keep thee : and in their hands they shall 

1 St Luke, iv, 10. 


i45 



Antapodosis 

bear thee up, left at an y time thou dash thy foot 
againft a ftone That this was so written and that 
it refers to Our Lord no one of the faithful doubts. 
But how treacherously Leviathan brought forward 
these words of truth you can underftand by the reply 
given by Him who surpasses the underftanding not 
only of men but of angels. “ Thou shalt not tempt ”, 
He said, “ the Lord thy God.” You see therefore ; 
and yet you make assertions that are true but full of 
guile. They are like the reply which the apoftate 
Julian is said to have given to the Chriftians whom in 
greed for plunder he had cheated of their property : — 
“ Your mafter said 1 , ‘ Provide neither gold nor silver 
in your purses.’” . And again* : — “ II eft plus aise 
qu’un chameau passe par le trou /Tune aiguille , qu’il ne 
left qu’un riche entre dans le royaume de Dieu ”, that 
is, “ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a 
needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom 
of God ”. And also 3 : — “ Whosoever he be of you 
that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my 
disciple ”. Come now, can we think that the perver- 
sity of these replies of Julian is worse than the foulness 
of your assertions ? What Peter did in the way of 
righteousness you transfer to the cause of wrong. I 
for my part believe that you do not underftand the 
Adts of the Apoftles, or, what is more probable, that 
you have never read them. You will find it there 
plainly written 4 , that the faithful sold their lands and 
houses and laid the price at the apoftles’ feet. Every- 
thing was in common and no man said that anything 
was his own : distribution was made to every man 
according as he had need. Gold is in men’s eftimation 
the moft precious of all things and to you it is dearer 
than your own soul. If Peter then refused to touch 

1 St Matthew , x, q. 3 St Luke , xiv, 33. 

* St Mark , x, 25. ' 4 Aas,iv, 35. 


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Tit-for-Tat 

it, regarding it as pestiferous, how can you juftify 
your assertion that he deserted the church of Antioch 
and haStily transferred his presence to the church of 
Rome ? If you blatantly declare — it is a villainous 
lie — that he sought money, I can prove that it was 
souls to be gained and a glorious martyrdom that he 
desired. It had been foretold him by his MaSfcer, 
or rather by his Creator and Redeemer, that 1 : “ When 
thou waSt young, thou girdedSt thyself and walkedSt 
whither thou wouldeSt : but when thou shalt be old, 
thou shalt Stretch forth thy hands, and another shall 
gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldeSt not 
This He said signifying by what death Peter would 
give glory to God. Again it is said in another place 2 
that when after the resurrection Peter asked Our 
Lord where He was going, He replied : u To Rome, 
to be crucified a second time Peter came to Rome 
then, not puffed up with ambition but animated by 
the spirit of martyrdom, seeking not gold but treasure 
of souls. How happy, nay how blessed, would you 
be if your conscience testified that you were such as he ! 
You cannot deny that you sold the bishopric of Verona 
for a small sum, a thing which we are nowhere told 
was done by the apoStle Peter. By that it is plain 
that in your desire for gain you have loSt all sense both 
of temporal and spiritual honour. Let this here 
suffice while I return to my narrative. In its due 
place by God’s favour I will describe how you laid 
claim to the bishopric of Milan. 

Ch. VIII . At that time the caitiff Berengar, under 
whose tyranny all Italy is now groaning, was known 
as marquess of I vrea . King Hugh gave him in marriage 
his niece Willa, the daughter of his brother Boso, 
marquess of the province of Tuscany, and Boso’s 
wife Willa. Moreover Anscar, Berengar’s brother, son 

1 St John,** i, 18. 3 Lini A£ta San&i Petri, XI. 

i47 



Antapodosis 

of Adalbert and of Ermengarde, Hugh’s sifter, was then 
at the height of his power and confidence. 

Ch. IX. In addition to this the hero Tedbald, a 
close conneftion of Hugh’s by marriage, was marquess 
of Camerino and Spoleto. He went to the help of 
the prince of Benevento againft the Greeks who had 
pressed him grievously hard, and attacking them in a 
regular campaign gained the viftory. It happened 
that he captured a number of the Greeks who had been 
driven from the country side but were ftill holding 
some forts. These men he caftrated, saying to the 
general who commanded them : “ I underftand that 
your holy emperor attaches a special value to eunuchs, 
and therefore I have haftened to send him a few with 
my respefts, and by God’s grace will send him more 
very soon ”. 

Ch. X. Let me here insert the ftory of a witty, or 
rather a clever, trick which a certain woman played on 
this occasion. One day some Greeks in company with 
the men of the countryside went out from a fortress 
to fight againft the aforesaid Tedbald, and a certain 
number of them were taken prisoners by him. As he 
was taking them off to be caftrated, a certain woman, 
fired by love for her husband and very difturbed for 
the safety of his members, rushed out in a frenzy from 
the fortress with her hair all flying loose. Tearing 
her cheeks with her nails until the blood came, she 
took her ftand before Tedbald’s tent and began to 
cry out and wail aloud. At laft Tedbald appeared 
and said to her : “ What is the matter with you, 
woman, that you are making such a loud and lamentable 
din ”. To that — a pretence of folly is at the proper 
time the height of wisdom — she replied : “ These are 
ftrange and unheard of doings, heroes, to make war 
againft women who cannot attack you back. None 
of our daughters are descended from the ftock of the 

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Amazons. We devote our lives to Minerva’s work and 
are quite ignorant of weapons Tedbald then said 
to her : ££ What hero in his right mind ever made 
war upon women, except in the daps of the Amazons ? ” 
££ What more cruel war ”, she answered, ££ can you 
make on women, or what more grievous loss can you 
inflidt upon them, than to seek to deprive their husbands 
of that member on which the warmth of our bodies 
depends and in which, modi: important of all, our 
hopes of children in the future are centred. By 
cadlrating our men you rob them of something which 
is not theirs but ours. I ask you, did the flocks of 
sheep and the herds of cattle that you took from me 
ladt week bring me as a suppliant to your camp ? 
I willingly agree to give up the animals, but this 
other loss, so serious, so cruel and so irreparable, I 
shudder at, I shrink from, I refuse. May all the Gods 
above protedt me from such a calamity ! ” At this 
the whole army burdt into a guffaw, and her arguments 
were received with such favour that they earned for 
her not only the return of her husband intadf but also 
of the beadts that had been driven away. As she was 
going off with her belongings Tedbald sent a page 
after her to ask what part of her husband he should 
remove if he came out again from the fortress to 
fight againdt him. ££ My husband ”, she said, “ has 
a nose, eyes, hands and feet. If he comes out again, 
let your madfcer remove those parts that belong to him ; 
but let him leave me, his humble servant, what is mine.” 
Such was the answer she sent back by the messenger, 
for she realized, by the laughter that her firdfc speech 
had evoked and by the return of her husband, that 
she had the favour of the army on her side. 

Ch. XI. About that time King Hugh’s brother 
Boso at the indtigation of his wife Willa, the modi 
greedy of women, endeavoured modi perversely to 

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Antapodosis 

Hart a revolt againH the king. The plot did not 
escape Hugh’s vigilant eye, and Boso was taken 
prisoner at once and put in cuHody. The cause of 
his downfall was as follows. When Lambert, as we 
have recorded above, had his eyes put out, Boso 
became marquess of Tuscany, and his wife Willa was 
fired with such a passion of greed for gold that not 
a single noble matron in all the province dared to 
adorn herself with any jewellery of the slightest value. 
This Willa had no male children, but she had four 
daughters, Berta, Willa, Richilda and Gisla. Of these 
four Willa, fitly married to the Berengar who is Hill 
alive, has rendered it possible for her mother not to 
be the worH woman ever born. I will not describe 
her conduH in a tedious and winding narrative : from 
one disguHing scene you will be able to judge how far 
she went in other matters. 

Ch. XII. Willa’s husband Boso had a belt of excep- 
tional length and breadth, enriched with a large 
number of precious gleaming Hones. When Boso was 
caught, the king confiscated his possessions and 
ordered that for this belt more than for any other of 
his treasures diligent search should be made. As for 
Willa, whom he regarded as the criminal responsible 
for the whole plot, he gave inHruHions that she 
should be ignominiously expelled from Italy and sent 
back to her native land of Burgundy. The moH 
careful scrutiny, however, failed to discover the belt, 
and when his messengers returned to Hugh with the 
other articles this was Hill missing. Thereupon the 
king cried out to them : “ Go back and cut open his 
horse’s trappings, even the cushioned saddle upon 
which he rides. If you do not find the belt there, 
Hrip the queen of all her clothes and make sure that 
she has not got it concealed upon her. I know well 
how cunning and avaricious she is ”. The messengers 

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accordingly retraced their iieps, and as their search 
again proved fruitless, in obedience to the king’s 
orders they stripped the queen completely naked. All 
the honest soldiers turned their eyes away rather than 
behold such a shameful and unprecedented sight ; but 
one of the servants ventured to look keenly at her and 
saw a piece of string hanging close by the round and 
rosy hemispheres of her buttocks. This string the 
shameless rascal caught and pulled : and lo and behold, 
the belt made its appearance from the very intimate 
retreat where it had been hidden. The man, so far 
from blushing at his disguising a£t, burft into a laugh. 
“ Ha, ha, ha ! ” he cried, “ we soldiers know something 
of midwifery. Here is a ruddy youngiter for the 
miibress. I hope he will get on well. What luck it 
would be for me and how happy I should feel, if my 
wife would bear me two such pretty dears ! I would 
send them as ambassadors to Constantinople ; for if 
you believe the pedlar’s tales the Emperor is always 
very glad to receive such envoys.” 

These jibes so diitressed Willa that she burst into 
tears and revealed to all the secret pain of her heart. 
But the servant, as is the way with such people, so 
far from being moved by her editress, was encouraged 
by it, and to increase the pain of the wound cried 
out : — 

“ What madness, Willa, thus to Store up gold 
In the recesses of your private hold ! 

Are you a Fury that you have the face 
To use your body as a jewel case ? 

No mother e’er on sweeter offspring smiled. 

Though this, methinks, was scarce a ten month child. 
Go on, dear lady, and produce some more, 

And as each darling comes, we’ll cry — c Encore 
So jeered the rascal, till a captain gruff 
Gripped the knave’s neck and said “ Avail that Stuff 

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Antapodosis 

This finished the business : the belt was taken to the 
king, and the lady was packed off to Burgundy. 
Whether it was the hider or the searcher who showed 
the greater lack of decency is a very ticklish question. 
But it is obvious that both Hugh and Willa were 
inspired by an excessive love of jewels and gold. 

Ch. XIII. At this time Rodulf king of the Burgun- 
dians died, and as Alda mother of his son King Lothair 
had juft passed away, King Hugh contracted a marriage 
with Rodulf ’s widow Queen Berta. He also gave his 
son Lothair for wife the daughter who had been born 
to Rodulf and Berta, a lady named Adelaide, charming 
both by the beauty of her person and the excellence 
of her charafter. 

To all the Greeks phis seems improper ;i (namely 
that if a father takes a mother to wife and makes with 
her one body, the son should also be able without 
sin to join the daughter in marriage with himself. 

Ch. XIV. Hugh, however, beguiled by the allure- 
ments of his many concubines, soon began not only 
to refuse his aforesaid wife Berta the affeftion due 
from a husband, but even heartily to deteft her. How 
juftly he was punished by God for this, I shall be glad 
to describe in the proper place. He had a number of 
concubines, but for three especially he entertained 
an ardent and moft disgraceful passion. The firft was 
called Pezola, a woman of the loweft servile origin, 
by whom he had a son named Boso, appointed by him 
after Wido’s death as bishop of the church of Piacenza. 
The second was Roza, daughter of the Walpert whom 
we have mentioned above as having been beheaded, 
who bore him a daughter remarkable for her beauty. 
The third was a Roman named Stephania, who also 
had by him a son Tedbald, afterwards made arch- 
deacon of Milan with the proviso that on the arch- 
bishop’s death he should be his successor. 

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How it was that God did not allow this arrangement 
to be carried out, the course of my narrative will 
reveal, if life be granted me. The people in remem- 
brance of the shameless beauty content gave these 
three women the names of the three goddesses. 
Pezola was known as Venus ; Roza as Juno, because 
of her continual bickerings and jealousy of her rival, 
who in the corruption of this flesh seemed more 
beautiful than herself ; Stephania was called Semele. 
As the king was not the only man who enjoyed their 
favours, the children of all three are of uncertain 
parentage. 

Ch. XV. At that time King Henry was taken with 
a serious illness in the caftle of Memleben on the 
borders of Turingia and Saxony and soon afterwards 
passed away to his Maker. His body was taken to 
Quedlinburg in Saxony, a nunnery of pious and high 
born women situated on the king’s own estate, and 
was laid to reft with all due veneration inside the 
nunnery chapel. There the venerable Matilda, 
Henry’s wife, consort and kinswoman, ftill lives, and 
there, surpassing all wives whom I have ever seen or 
known, she ceases not to perform the office of the dead 
in expiation of paft offences and to offer to God a 
living sacrifice. Before her husband came to the 
throne she bore him a son whom he called Otto, 
that great monarch, I mean, by whose might the 
northern and the weftern countries of our universe 
are governed, by whose wisdom they are given peace, 
in whose piety they rejoice, and at whose juft severity 
in judgment they tremble. After his accession she 
bore two more sons, one called Henry after his father, 
a youth of gracious wit and prudent counsel, fair and 
comely of face, mild and watchful of eye. He has 
but recently passed away and we are ftill shedding 
for him ftreams of tears. The third, called Bruno, 

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Antapodosis 

was sent by his revered father to do battle for the 
recovery of Utrecht after the Normans had completely 
destroyed the church there. However, I will deal 
with their doings more fully in the proper place. 
Let me now return to my narrative. 

Ch. XVI. How prudent was King Henry and how 
wise may be proved by the fadt that he chose as his 
successor the mod capable and the modi pious of his 
sons. Your death threatened destruction to your 
whole people, modi prudent King, if the successor to 
your regal dignity had not been a man as great as 
yourself. Therefore I have composed the following 
lines in honour of you both : — 

“ Thou, who the impious didst quell 
With fire and sword in days gone by, 

Art dead : and now we know too well 
How great is our calamity. 

But let the people dry their tears 
Nor weep the dear lord who has gone. 

To all the world this day appears 
The father’s image in the son. 

Otto shall bring the world beneath 
His sway, that peace and concord gives. 

All that we loft by Henry’s death 
Is paid us back while Otto lives. 

Gentle and merciful and mild 
To all believers is our king. 

But to the foemen fierce and wild 
Death and deftrudfion he will bring. 

Some wars, dear lord, remain to fight, 

And then thy fame to heaven will rise 
And every man confess thy might 
Beneath the Stars of northern skies, 

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Tit-for-Tat 

And in those lands that take their name 
From Hesperus, the evening-born, 

Who when he comes with orient flame 
Is Lucifer, the Star of morn.” 

Ch. XVII. Before he came to the throne King Otto 
had married an English lady of high rank, Otwith 
niece of King Athenian, and by her had a son named 
Liutolf. Whenever I remember that son’s recent 
death my bosom is filled with tears. O would that 
he had never been born, or else had not met so early 
an end ! 

Ch. XVIII. At this time Henry, King Otto’s 
brother, on the instigation of some perverse advisers 
took up an attitude of hostility. For he who after 
winning the glorious honour of creation wished to 
make himself like to his Creator, by the mouth of his 
followers Stirred up Henry againSt his brother — nay 
more, againSt his king and maSter — with words like 
these : “ You were born in the royal State, your 
brother was not. Do you think that your father afted 
rightly in preferring him to you ? Obviously he did 
not give due weight to the difference of birth ; he 
was led aStray by excessive partiality. Come then, 
you will find men to help you. Turn your brother 
off the throne and take it yourself. The regal dignity 
should be yours, since by God’s favour you were born 
in it 

Ch. XIX. 

“ Good Saxon prince, why this insane desire 
To mount the throne ? ’Tis not thy noble sire 
But God himself forbids, at whose command 
He placed the sceptre in thy brother’s hand. 

All things on earth God’s ordinance obey ; 

He rules the Stars, the seasons own His sway. 

God sets up kings, God gives them power to try 

155 



Antapodosis 

The crimes of men, God gives them victory. 

Thou monStrous serpent, full of guile and spite, 
WouldSt thou once more urge brothers twain to 
fight 

And at thy word that ancient strife recall ? 

On thee, foul fiend, the punishment shall fall. 

For all the wrong that in this world is done 
Thou, wretched traitor, thou shalt pay alone ; 
And thy huge frame those fiery chains shall bind 
That are to sinners as their due assigned. 

Begone to thy juSt place, the flames of hell, 

Nor think that Christians there will burn as well 
For ever by thy side. By grace of heaven 
Forgiveness to the erring soul is given, 

And Jesus’ blood avails to wipe away 
The penalty that juStly it should pay.” 

Ch. XX. Count Everard was the man who enticed 
Henry into this foul and nefarious plot. Up to the 
time of this firSt revolt Henry had always rendered 
due assistance to his brother, his king and overlord, 
and had used every effort in subduing his enemies. 
But it is the case, not only with those who are occupied 
with temporal affairs but even with those who have 
devoted themselves to eternity and are wrapped in 
the visions of myStic contemplation, that carelessness 
sometimes leads to a fall ; and as Vegetius Renatus 
says in his treatise on warfare 1 : — “ a security greater 
than needful is wont to be especially dangerous ”. 
While Henry was flaying in a certain town and not 
taking any precautions againSt attack, the aforesaid 
Everard got a force together and besieged him, and 
before the king his brother could come to his assistance 
took the place by Storm and carried off Henry with 
a large amount of treasure to his own lands. The 

156 


1 Vegetius, De re military ifl, xxii. 



Tit-for-Tat 

king therefore, anxious to avenge his brother’s, or 
rather his own, disgrace, started a vigorous campaign 
against Everard and his confederates. 

Ch. XXL Everard, it muft be said, had seduced 
Gislebert duke of Lorraine from his loyalty to the king, 
and with his help put up an aftive resistance. For 
though Gislebert had married the king’s sifter, inspired 
by hope of gaining the throne he preferred to resift 
the king rather than do his duty and help him againft 
his rivals. When, however, the confederates saw that 
even so they could not hold their own, they agreed 
to a plan, subtle in the eyes of man but foolish in the 
eyes of God, and addressed Henry as follows : — 

Ch. XXII. “If you promise under oath to do what 
we advise, not only are we ready to release you from 
captivity but, what is more important, we recognise 
you as our overlord if you wish to become king 
They said this, not with any idea of putting their 
words into effeft, but in order that they might with 
his help the more easily beat the king. 

Ch. XXIII. The king had certainly some very 
ftrong helpers, namely, Hermann duke of Swabia, 
Hermann’s brother Udo, and Conrad surnamed the 
Wise. Though these three were bound to Everard 
by ties of marriage they preferred to die juftly, if 
fate so decreed, with their rightful king rather than 
to triumph un juftly with their kinsman. Henry 
accordingly, deceived by the promise made to him, 
soon collefted forces of his own and began with all 
his might to help the rebels in their ftruggle againft 
the king. But as it is written “Iniquity lieth to 
itself ”, I would fain pause for a moment and explain 
how on this occasion iniquity played itself false. 
Everard had only been able to seduce Gislebert from 
his allegiance to the king by promising to put him on 
the throne. Gislebert meant to deceive Henry in 

r 57 



Antapodosis 

the same way ; to overcome the king by his help, and 
then depose him and take the kingship for himself. 
Everard for his part had quite other intentions. He 
meant, if he succeeded in beating the king, to rob 
both his confederates and take the throne. This we 
may infer from his own words addressed to his wife 
some time before his death. He was fondling her 
close when he said : “ Take your pleasure now in a 
count’s arms : you will soon be rejoicing in a king’s 
embrace ”. That things turned out otherwise and 
that iniquity was false to itself is proved by the present 
ftate of affairs. 

Ch. XXIV. So then, as we have said, encouraged, 
or rather entrapped, by this promise Henry collected 
an army and with Gislebert and Everard prepared 
to attack the king, while the latter gladly harkened 
againft them, not alarmed by their numbers but 
trusting in God’s protection. That you may know 
how easy it is for God to conquer a hoft with a handful 
of men, and how “ no one shall be saved by the 
abundance of his own valour ”, hear the way in which 
Our Lord repeated a miracle of the paft. 

The king’s soldiers had reached the Rhine at a 
place called Birten, and had already begun to cross 
the river, unaware that Henry with his aforesaid 
confederates was in the near neighbourhood. A few 
men had landed from the boats and were juft able to 
mount their horses and put on their armour, when 
with their own eyes they saw the enemies’ forces 
advancing to the attack before they had received any 
warning of their approach. They therefore addressed 
one another with these mutual exhortations : — “ The 
size of this river, as you see, prevents our comrades 
from coming to our help, and also bars our retreat, 
even if we wished to retire. We know also full well 
how ridiculous it would seem, especially among nations 

158 



Tit-for-Tat 

of our character, for brave men to surrender to the 
enemy, escaping death indeed by non-resiStance but 
only winning life at the price of eternal ignominy. 
The fadt that we have no hope of retreat — which is 
rather a disadvantage to the enemy — and the everlasting 
shame that we should earn by surrender, both inspire 
us with confidence ; and there is a further motive 
that urges us to fight, namely the truth and juStice 
of our cause. Even if our earthly habitation be 
destroyed in resisting unrighteousness, we shall gain 
in heaven a home not made by hands ”. Fired by 
these words they advanced at full speed and fell upon 
the ranks of their foes. The king for his part, thinking 
that his men were not without divine inspiration in 
showing this courage, since the intervening Stream 
prevented him from helping them with his bodily 
presence, remembered how the Lord’s people had 
overcome the Amalekites’ attack by the prayers of 
Moses, the servant of God. Accordingly he leaped 
down from his horse and with all his army burSt into 
tearful prayer, kneeling before the vidtory-bringing 
nails that had once pierced the hands of Our Lord 
and Saviour Jesus ChriSt and were then fixed upon 
his spear. What Strength the prayers of a righteous 
man possess, according to Saint James’ words, was then 
plainly revealed. As he prayed, before a single man 
on his side had fallen, the enemy all turned in flight, 
some of them not knowing in the leaSt why they were 
retreating, since their pursuers were so few that they 
could not see them. Many of them were killed and 
Henry was Struck heavily on the arm. The triple 
mail of his cuirass prevented the sword from piercing 
his flesh, but the cruel force of the blow turned the 
skin completely black. In spite of all his doctors’ care 
the bruise never healed and caused him every year 
excruciating pain. Indeed it was acknowledged that 

159 



Antapodosis 

his death many years later was due to this injury. 
But as I have made mention of the sacred spear, let 
me here give an account of how it came into the king’s 
possession. 

Ch. XXV. Rodulf, king of the Burgundians, who 
for some years ruled over the Italians, received this 
spear as a gift from Count Samson. It was of a 
different appearance from ordinary spears, of a novel 
shape and conftru&ed in a novel fashion, with apertures 
on either side of its waift. In front of the thumb 
pieces two fine cutting edges extend sloping down to 
the mi ddle of the spear. It is said that it once 
belonged to Conftantine the Great, son of Saint Helena 
who found the life-giving cross. At the raised part 
in the middle, which above we called the waift, there 
are crosses made from the nails that once pierced the 
hands and feet of Our Lord and Redeemer Jesus 
ChriSt. King Henry, who was a God-fearing man and 
a lover of all sacred things, when he heard that Rodulf 
possessed this ineSlimabie heavenly treasure, sent 
envoys to see if he could at any coSt acquire it, and so 
gain for himself an invincible weapon againSt all 
enemies, visible and invisible, and make perpetual 
triumph certain. Rodulf at firSt declared that he 
would never give it up, and so Henry, unable to 
soften him by gifts, did his beSt to frighten him with 
threats, swearing that he would lay his whole kingdom 
waSte with fire and sword. But as the gift he sought 
was that thing whereby God had joined the things 
of earth to the things of heaven, the corner ftone 
that makes both one, the heart of King Rodulf at laft 
softened and to the juft king juftly asking for what 
was juftly his he handed over the spear. In the 
presence of peace there was no room for ftrife. By 
Him who was crucified on these nails, passing from 
Pilate to Herod, the two kings, who had been mutual 

160 



Tit-for-Tat 

enemies, were on that day made friends. What love 
was inspired in Henry’s heart by the gift of this 
inestimable treasure was shown in many ways and 
especially in this : not only did he honour the giver 
with presents of gold and silver, but he handed over 
to him a large diftrift in the province of Swabia. 
God who sees into men’s hearts and knows the purpose 
of their actions, considering and rewarding not the 
size of the gift but the giver’s good will, showed at 
this time by certain evidence what a reward He 
beStowed upon the pious king for his expenditure. 
With this sign going before him and bringing him 
victory, Henry routed and put to flight the enemies 
who had risen up againft him. Such was the occasion, 
or rather such was the will of God, when Henry 
gained possession of the sacred spear, which on his 
death he handed down with the inheritance of his 
throne to his son, of whom we are now speaking. 
With what veneration Otto has cherished that inesti- 
mable gift is shown both by his present victory, and 
by the admirable generosity of his gifts to God, which 
we are about to relate. So it was then that King 
Henry returned home after terrifying and routing 
his foes, not so much rejoicing in his victory as elated 
by the proof of God’s compassion towards him. 

Ch. XXVI. I would fain pause for a moment and 
show that this result was not due to chance but to 
God’s directing hand. That will be proved clearer 
than the light of day if we consider the appearance 
of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ to the women 
and disciples after the resurreftion. Thomas knew 
well the faith of Peter and the love of John who at 
supper leaned on Jesus’ bosom ; he had heard that 
they had run to the sepulchre and found nothing but 
the linen clothes ; he was aware that angels had 
appeared in a vision to the women and assured them 

161 


XI 



Antapodosis 

that He was Slill alive. Well and good : perhaps he 
had considered it women’s weakness and refused to 
believe them. Come, Saint Thomas, sap I, even if 
you do not believe the two disciples who were hastening 
to the fort of Emmaus, to whom He not only appeared 
but also expounded the scriptures written concerning 
Himself, and furthermore, according to His wonted 
custom, blessed their bread and broke it and gave it 
to them ; ftill why do you persist in refusing credence 
to all your fellow disciples to whom He appeared 
when the doors were shut ? Do you remember that 
your Lord and Teacher, by whose side you promised 
you would die, foretold all this before His passion 1 ? 
He said : “ Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all 
things that are written by the prophets concerning 
the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall 
be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, 
and spitefully entreated, and spitted on ; and they 
shall scourge him and put him to death : and the 
third day he shall rise again ”. Why then do you 
doubt His resurrection, when you see Him, as He 
foretold, delivered unto the Gentiles, scourged, 
spitted on and crucified ? Not without reason is it 
that you insist on touching God with your own hands. 
Our Lord Himself who before all time assured us 
our salvation, who knows all things before they happen, 
had foreseen in His mercy and kindness that many 
would perish by such an error as this. And so He 
said* : — “ Reach hither thy finger and thruft thy hand 
into my side : and be not faithless but believing ”. 
Parle, St Thomas, that is, speak out, St Thomas, and 
by your doubting save us from any future hesitation. 
“ My Lord,” said Thomas, “ my Lord and my God.” 
O doubter worthy of all praise ! O waverer to be 
proclaimed to all ages ! If you had not doubted, I 

1 St Luke , xviii, 31. 2 St John. , xx, 27. 

162 



Tit-for-Tat 

should not so surely believe. If to the heretics, who 
loudly declared that Our Lord Jesus Christ did not 
rise again in His true body, we could only have asserted 
the faith of the believing women and the disciples, 
they with devilish cunning would have faced us with 
many arguments. But now when they hear that 
doubting Thomas handled the body, touched the 
scars of the wounds, and then, his doubts removed, 
cried out “ My Lord and my God ”, those who till 
then were full of noise seem to become as silent as 
fishes, knowing that it was true flesh which could be 
handled and that it was God who entered when the 
doors were shut. That Thomas doubted was not 
chance but the divine dispensation. 

And so, mod pious king, the victory that with your 
few men you could not have expended was part of 
the plan of God’s providence, wishing to show to 
mortals how dear to God was he who by his prayers 
earned so great a triumph with such small forces. 
Perchance, nay assuredly, you did not yourself know 
how dear you were to God ; that knowledge was 
given you after He had honoured you with so signal 
a vidtory. Holy men do not know, until they have 
tested it, what virtue they possess and what is their 
worth when they are set in God’s balances. We may 
infer this from the words spoken by the angel to 
Abraham when he wished to offer up his son 1 : — 
“ Stretch not your hand over the child nor do anything 
to him ; now I know that you fear God ”, that is, 
I have made you and your posterity to know it. Even 
before Abraham consented to slay his son, God knew 
how great was the love that the holy patriarch felt 
for Him ; but he who loved did not know how perfedt 
was his love, until he made it clear as day by the 
sacrifice of his beloved son. We can prove this 

1 Genesis , xxii, 12. 

163 



Antapodosis 

statement by the promise that St Peter made 1 : 
“ Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison 
and to death And Our Lord said to him : “ I 
tell thee Peter, the cock shall not crow this night, 
before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knoweft 
me He who made thee, Peter, knew you better 
than you knew yourself. The faith you profess is, 
you think, true : but He who knows all things before 
they happen predicted that you would deny Him 
thrice. You did not forget that sentence, and when 
He asked you afterwards if you loved Him, you trusted 
Him rather than yourself, and declared your love in 
this modeft reply : “ Lord, thou knoweft all things ; 
thou knoweft that I love thee. In my own conscious- 
ness I love thee more than I love myself, save that I 
love myself in loving thee. But whether this is 
truth, as I think it is, thou doft know better than I, 
thou who haft made me to live and fired me with 
righteous passion to love thee 

And so, good king, this was done, not to confirm 
your faith, but for the sake of those weaklings who 
think that viftory depends on numbers and that human 
affairs are guided by chance. We know that if you 
had crossed the river with twelve thousand soldiers 
and gained the victory, you would have imputed your 
success, not to yourself, but to God. The reason 
why He decreed that you should win the day by your 
prayers in spite of your small numbers was that He 
wished to fire believers with a deeper love of God and 
also show to those who knew it not how great was the 
love He felt for you. But now I muft leave this 
sub j eft and return to the order of my narrative. 

Ch. XXVII. In Alsace there is a caftle, called in 
the language of the country Breisach, which ftands on 
an island in the Rhine, and is furthermore protefted 

1 St Luke, rrii, 33. 


164 



Tit-for-Tat 

b y the natural roughness of the locality. In this 
cattle Everard had Rationed a number of his soldiers, 
and by the terror they inspired not only made himself 
master of a great part of the aforesaid province but 
also lamentably harassed the king’s loyal subjects round 
about. The good king therefore, considering his 
people’s interests before his own, collected an army 
and set out for Alsace to lay siege to the aforesaid 
caStle. On his arrival, at the instigation of Frederick, 
Archbishop of Maintz, who was then with him, a 
number of the bishops abandoned their tents which 
they had pitched in a circle round him and began under 
cover of night to desert their king, secretly retiring 
to their own cities, while Frederick treacherously 
Stayed behind. The king’s soldiers noticing their 
adtion addressed the king thus : “ Take thought for 
your safety, sire, and retire from this diStridt into 
Saxony. You are well aware that your brother Henry 
is endeavouring to make war upon you, and if he sees 
the smallness of your present force, he will fall upon 
you suddenly without giving you an opportunity to 
retreat. It would be better therefore to return later 
with a larger army than to be faced with the alternative 
of a miserable death or a shameful flight ”. The king 
however was undismayed and answered them, as 
Judas Maccabeus once answered his men : — “ Nay, 
nay, do not talk like that. If our time has come, let 
us die like brave men and not caSt a slur upon our good 
name. It would be better to face death in the cause 
of righteousness than to escape death and live on in 
dishonour. If those who resist God’s ordinance and 
hope for aid, not from God but from their own 
numbers, are content to die in an unrighteous conflict 
and to go down to eternal punishment in hell, it 
should give us much greater pleasure to fight with all 
our Strength, since we have the security of fighting 

165 



Antapodosis 

for justice, and, if the universal lot of mankind should 
befall us, we can die in battle without an y anxiety for 
the future. If those who fight for justice were to 
retreat merely because of their small numbers before 
they had put things to the te£t of battle, it would mean 
that they diftru&ed God By these words not 
merely did the king dissuade his men from the retreat 
they contemplated, but fired them at once with 
vigour for the fray. 

Ch. XXVIII. I should like you, excellent father, to 
give your careful attention to one of the king’s deeds ; 
and then you will admire his victory over his own 
passions even more than his victories over his foes. 
Even sinners can conquer their adversaries at times, if 
God permits : but to keep an unshaken courage and 
to be neither elated by success nor depressed by 
reverses is only possible when men are perfect. Hear 
then how amid the tossing Storms of life the king 
founded his ardent faith upon the rock that is ChriSt. 
At that time he had with him a certain very wealthy 
count, whose hoSt of followers formed a glorious part 
of the king’s army. This person, seeing the number 
of deserters who were every day leaving the royal 
lines, and considering the outer, not the inner, man, 
began secretly to revolve these thoughts in his mind : — 
“Anything I ask from the king in these troublous 
times I shall certainly get : a serious attack is threat- 
ening us and he is afraid that I shall desert him ”. 
Accordingly he sent messengers, begging the king to 
hand over to him the abbey of Lorsch with its rich 
lands, so that from its possessions he might supply 
his own and his soldiers’ needs. The king, however, 
who not only had the wisdom of a serpent but was also 
filled with a dove’s simplicity, was quite unable to 
understand the meaning of this requeft, and sent the 
following excuse in reply : — “ I would rather explain 

r66 



Tit-for-Tat 

in words than by a message, what I think on this 
sub j eft When the count who had sent the mes- 

sengers heard this, he was filled with boundless joy, 
thinking that his request was already granted. And so, 
impatient of delay, he went to the king and asked him 
to pronounce judgment. To him the king in the 
presence of the whole army gave the following reply : — 
“ We muff obey God rather than men. What sensible 
person in his right mind does not see that your request 
is not a humble petition but has the force of a threat ? 
It is written 1 : — ‘ Give not what is sacred to the dogs ’. 
And although our teachers say that this muft be 
understood spiritually, I think that I should fairly 
be giving what is sacred to the dogs if I took away 
these monastery lands, given by pious souls to men 
who fight for God, and handed them over to men who 
are fighting for this world. I call the whole army to 
witness and solemnly declare in answer to your wanton 
and unrighteous demand that you shall never receive 
this nor anything else from me. If it pleases you to 
join the other traitors in deserting me, the sooner you 
go the better ”. The face is the mirror of the mind : 
when the count heard this, his blushing cheeks betrayed 
his mental discomfiture, and falling quickly at the 
king’s feet he confessed his sin and the gravity of his 
error. Consider therefore the courage wherewith 
God’s athlete crushes both his invisible and his visible 
foes. Our ancient enemy thought that he had done 
him no real hurt in persuading so many valiant 
princes to rise againft him and in urging his brother 
to rob him of his throne. He knew that these were 
but outward losses, and so he incited the aforesaid 
count to ask for the inheritance of the saints, in order 
that the king might the sooner incur God’s anger by 
unjuftly handing over to soldiers the wages that 

1 St Matthew, vii, 6. 


1 67 



Antapodosis 

belong to the servants of God. In this he failed ; 
and let me now relate the king’s marvellous success 
and how because of his firmness in temptation God 
Himself fought on his side. 

Ch. XXIX. That holy man David, speaking in the 
Lord’s person, says 1 : “ If my people had harkened 
unto me and if Israel had walked in my ways, I would 
perchance have humbled their enemies to the dull 
and laid my hand upon those who trouble them ”. 
That this word was fulfilled in the case of the king 
who harkened unto God and walked in His ways, the 
account I am going to give will show. When Everard 
and Gislebert heard that the king was in Alsace, they 
got together a large army, and having no fear of 
opposition crossed the Rhine at Andernach, and 
proceeded to smash up the king’s loyal sub j efts every- 
where round about. It mull be said that Huto, 
brother of Hermann duke of Swabia, and Conrad 
surnamed the Wise, whom we have described above 
as being Hill loyal to the king, were in this diflrift. 
But as their forces were much inferior to the enemy, 
they feared to engage them. However, at God’s 
command, given not by word of mouth but by inspir- 
ation, they followed close behind them as they returned 
with their load of plunder. After they had gone a 
little way, a priefl met them, who was weeping and 
wailing aloud. They asked him where he had come 
from and why he was weeping, and he replied : “ I 
have jufl come from those robbers, who have increased 
the miseries of my poor eflate by taking from me the 
one beall that I possessed ”. When the aforesaid 
Huto and Conrad heard this, they made careful 
inquiry as to whether he had set eyes on Gislebert and 
Everard. He told them that almoll all the troops 
with the booty had crossed the Rhine but that the 

1 Psalms , lxxxi, 14. 


168 



Tit-for-Tat 

two leaders, alone except for a few picked men, were 
then taking a meal, curse them ! Thereupon Huto 
and Conrad dashed forward with such speed that, if 
you had seen them, you would have said they were 
flying rather than running. To cut a long tale 
short, Everard was killed by the sword, Gislebert 
drowned in the Rhine water : there was too much of 
it for him to swallow, and his breath failing, he gave 
up the ghoft. Not one of their followers escaped : 
they were all either taken alive or slain by the sword. 
So you see how the Lord laid His hand upon the king’s 
adversaries, since He knew that he had always walked 
in His ways. 

Ch. XXX. While this was going on, the king in 
Alsace knowing nothing of what had happened had 
made his preparations to die rather than fly before 
the foe. It happened accordingly that early one 
morning he was following his usual custom and 
mounting his horse to go to church — it was some way 
off — there to fortify himself with prayer. As he looked 
in front he saw a man in the distance coming towards 
him with terrific speed and at once realized that he 
was the bearer of important news. As the messenger 
had good tidings to tell, as soon as he saw the king, 
he gave token of the happy message he had to give by 
making some preliminary merry gestures. The soldiers 
therefore, seeing by these signs that he was bringing 
good news, ran forward on the alert to hear what he 
had to say. The steady way in which he now began 
to walk, the manner in which he smoothed his hair 
and arranged his dress, and the respectful greeting 
he prepared to give the king, seemed to them as long 
as a year. The king saw that his men were panting 
with excitement and that the man’s delay was un- 
bearable — “ Come,” said he, “ tell us what you were 
sent for at once, and invert the usual order by giving 

169 



Antapodosis 

us the fa&s firft. Banish this company’s fears and 
fill their hearts with joy : then you may bring out 
your compliments to myself and indulge in the long 
preliminaries of a rhetorical prelude. It is what you 
have to say, not how you say it, that we are this moment 
expecting. We would rather be made to rejoice by 
ruftic simplicity than left on thorns by Ciceronian 
wit”. When he heard this, the messenger said out- 
right that Everard and Gislebert had passed away from 
this life. He wanted to give details, but the king 
checked him by a gesture and getting down from his 
horse burft into tearful prayers of gratitude to God. 
This duty done, he got up and proceeded on his way 
to church to commend himself to God’s protection. 

Ch. XXXI. At this time Bertald, duke of Bavaria, 
brother of duke Arnold, who was a man of great 
energy, was very vigorous in supporting the king’s 
cause. So the king, wishing him to share in his 
present gladness as he had shared in his paft tribu- 
lations, sent him a messenger the next day to tell him 
what benefits the Lord had showered upon him. 
Bertald was not connected with him by any ties of 
marriage, and therefore to enhance the joyful news 
the king offered and promised under oath to give him 
as wife his sifter, formerly married to Gislebert, if 
he could get her. If he could not, he said, he would 
arrange a marriage for him with Gislebert’s and his 
sifter’s child, a girl, now almoft of marriageable age, 
whom he had under his control. On hearing this 
Bertald was immensely delighted, and chose to wait 
for the young girl rather than take the mother, who 
had had a husband already. 

Ch. XXXII. Frederick, archbishop of Maintz, at 
whose inftigation some of the bishops had left the 
king, in order that his treachery, till then concealed, 
might be plain to all, now openly deserted the king’s 

170 



Tit-for-Tat 

cause, and about ten days before the death of his 
aforesaid conspirators came in haffce to Maintz and 
thence passed on without delay to Metz. The king’s 
brother Henry had arranged on the return of Everard 
and Gislebert to join Frederick there with a large 
army and to make preparations for a vigorous campaign 
against the king in Alsace. When the archbishop 
arrived, however, he was met by a very unexpected 
and disagreeable piece of news ; the two princes, he 
was told, had been cut off by death and were now no 
more. These tidings filled him with consternation 
and he was completely at a loss as to what he should do. 

Ch. XXXIII. Meanwhile the king left Alsace and 
occupied France. In fear of his anger the people of 
Maintz refused to allow the archbishop to enter the city 
on his return. So not long after he was taken prisoner 
by the king’s partizans, brought into the royal presence, 
and sent off to prison in Saxony. There he Stayed 
some time, and then the king’s clemency restored him 
to his former position. 

Ch. XXXIV. Henry for his part, terror Stricken with 
fear of the king his brother, determined to take refuge 
in the caStle of Chevremont, a place Strong by nature 
and fortified also by the ingenuity of men. But 
his siSter, Gislebert’s widow, learning of this before- 
hand not only prevented him from so doing, but 
addressed him thus : — “ Shame on you ! Are not 
the troubles that my husband’s death has brought 
upon me enough for you ? Would you shut yourself 
up in my fort and bring down the king’s wrath like 
a flood upon this country ? I will not endure it, 
I will not suffer it, I will not allow it. I am not so 
altogether senseless as to let you win your safety at 
the price of my ruin 

Ch. XXXV. When Henry heard this, not knowing 
what else to do, he took some of the bishops on whose 

171 



Antapodosis 

help he had depended, and one day went barefoot to 
the king. Taking him by surprise he flung himself 
at his feet and as a suppliant begged for mercy. The 
king replied : “ Your shameful conduct does not 

deserve mercy. But as I see you humbled before me, 
I will not do you any harm ”. So he ordered him 
to go to his French palace of Ingelheim, there to be 
closely guarded until the bitterness of anger had 
abated and he could decide on the advice of his wise 
counsellors what he should do with him. 


172 



CONTENTS 

BOOK V 


CHAPTER 

I In what manner Hermann duke of the Swabians 
gave his daughter Ita as wife to the king’s son 
Liutolf ........ 

II Of the eclipse of the sun and the appearance of a 
comet ........ 

III Of how King Hugh ever y year attacked Rome 

IV Of the two brothers Berengar and Anscar, of whom 

Anscar was appointed marquess of Camerino and 
Spoleto 

V Of Sarlio, whom King Hugh sent against Anscar, 
and of Anscar’s speech ..... 

VI Of the good soldier Wikbert’s good advice and of 
the bad soldier Arcod’s bad advice . 

VII Of the fir£t battle between Sarlio and Anscar, in 
which Wikbert was killed and Arcod ran away . 

VIII Of the other battle, in which Anscar killed Count 
Hatto with his spear shaft and afterwards falling 
from his horse was himself killed by his enemies, 
and Sarlio took possession of the march . 

IX Of King Hugh, who sent envoys to Constantinople 
to fetch ships and Greek fire .... 

X Of King Hugh, who meant to put out Berengar’s 
eyes, but could not do so owing to Lothair’s 
information to Berengar, and of the flight of 
Berengar and his wife ..... 

XI An imprecation against the mountains, which 
allowed Berengar and Willa to cross . 

XII In what manner Duke Hermann welcomed Beren- 
gar and brought him into the king’s presence 

173 


PAGE 

1 77 

177 
I?? 

178 
X 7 8 
179 
ISO 

l8l 

181 

182 
183 
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Antapodosis 


CHAPTER page 

XIII Of how King Hugh sent his envoys to King Otto, 

promising him money if he refused to shelter 
Berengar, and how his req ueSt was refused . .184 

XIV Of how Romanos Emperor of the Greeks asked 

Hugh to give his daughter in marriage to his 
grandson, the son of Constantine . . .184 

XV Of the naval battle which Romanos fought against 
Igor king of the Russi, and of his marvellous 
victory ........ 185 

XVI Of how King Hugh marched to Fraxinetum and 

sent the Greeks with their ships to the same place . 1 86 

XVII Of how King Hugh was able to deStroy Fraxinetum 

but refused to do so . . . . . .187 

XVIII Of Amedeus, Berengar’s vassal, who came to Italy 

to reconnoitre . . . . . . .188 

XIX Of how King Hugh came to an arrangement with 

the Hungarians and sent them to Spain . . .189 

XX Of how King Hugh sent his daughter by one 

of his concubines to Constantinople . . .189 

XXI Of the strength and beauty of the palace at 
Constantinople, and in what fashion Stephen 
and ConStantine drove their father from the palace 
and made him a monk . . . . .190 

XXII Of how these same two wished to overthrow 
ConStantine, by whom they were themselves 
made prisoners and sent to a monastery, and of the 
man who revealed their plot . . . .191 

XXIII Of their father’s sarcaStic greeting and speech, 

when his sons arrived at the monastery . . .193 

XXIV The prayer of the Emperor Romanos, thanking 

God for his sons’ downfall . . . . .194 

XXV Of how Constantine and Stephen were kept under 

guard 194 

XXVI Of the arrival of the longed for Berengar in Italy, 

and how Manasses joined his side . . . . 194 

XXVII Which princes firSt deserted Hugh, and why . . 195 

174 



Tit-for-Tat 


CHAPTER page 

XXVIII Of how King Hugh sent his son Lothair to Milan, 

to appeal to the compassion of the Italians . . 196 

XXIX Of Bishop Joseph, whom Berengar expelled from 

Brescia and appointed Antony in his place . . 197 

XXX Why Berengar left the bishops of Piacenza and 
Pavia alone, and why his parents commended the 
clerk Liudprand to Berengar .... 197 

XXXI Of King Hugh, who went with all his money to 

Provence, and of Raimond who became his vassal . 198 

XXXII Of Berengar’s wife, who incurred the charge of 

unchaftity, and how she freed herself . . . 199 

XXXIII Of the money which Berengar got from poor people 

and the churches to pay the Hungarians . . 200 


175 




BOOK V 


Ch. I. It happened, after the death of Everard and 
Gislebert and the confinement of the king’s brother 
Henry, that when men of rank flocked from every 
side to congratulate the king, there came also the 
richest man of the Swabians, Duke Hermann, who 
after profuse congratulations addressed the king in 
these terms : — “ It is not unknown to my liege lord 
that I am immensely rich and that in spite of my 
broad estates and great wealth I have no children. 
There is no one except my small daughter to inherit 
my property when I die. May it please my lord the 
king, therefore, to allow me to adopt as son his son, 
the little Liutolf, so that he may be united in marriage 
with my only child and on my departure derive such 
glory as the succession to my riches can give ”. The 
proposal pleased the king and his request was granted 
without delay. 

Ch. II. In this year, as you yourselves know well, 
there was a great and terrible eclipse of the sun, on 
the sixth day of the week, at nine o’clock in the 
morning. On that day your king Abderahamen was 
overcome in battle by Radamir, the mo£fc Christian 
king of Galicia. Moreover, in Italy for eight nights 
in succession a comet of wonderful size appeared, 
drawing after it a very long and fiery trail. This 
foreshadowed the famine destined soon to follow which 
by its severity caused lamentable havoc in Italy. 

Ch. III. At that time King Hugh had been shame- 
fully driven from Rome, as we have described, and 

177 


12 



Antapodosis 

Alberic was in sole control of the city. King Hugh 
every year made fierce attacks upon him, laying all 
the country wafte with fire and sword, so. that at laft 
he captured from him all the cities except his stronghold 
of Rome. Even that he would undoubtedly have won 
either by laying it waSte or by bribing the citizens, 
had not the mysterious sentence of God’s justice 
prevented him. 

Cb. IV. About this period the two brothers 
Berengar and Anscar became famous in Italy. They 
were sons of the same father, Adalbert marquess of 
Ivrea, but they had different mothers. Berengar, as 
we have said above, was the son of Gisla daughter of 
King Berengar ; Anscar was the son of Ermengarde 
daughter of Adalbert marquess of Tuscany by Berta 
daughter of King Hugh. Of these two men Berengar 
was prudent in counsel and cunning of wit, Anscar 
was ready for any hazardous enterprise. Indeed King 
Hugh regarded him with deep suspicion, and thought 
that he meant to kill him and seize the throne. Accor- 
dingly, afting on advice he made him marquess of 
Spoleto and Camerino after the death of marquess 
Tedbald, conceiving that the further he knew he was 
away, the more security he would feel. However, as 
soon as Anscar got there, being a man impatient by 
nature, he betrayed at once by his actions all the plans 
of mischief againft the king which his mind had 
suggested to him. 

Ch. V. Of all this Hugh was well aware ; and 
after debating what remedy for this annoyance he 
could find, he called into his presence a Burgundian 
named Sarlio. To him he said — “ The loyalty of 
the people of Camerino and Spoleto is something I 
know well. It is like a reed, which if a man lean upon, 
it will pierce his hand. Go then and undermine their 
fidelity with the money I will provide : kill all their 

178 



Tit-for-Tat 

affection for Anscar and win them over to yourself. 
There is no one who can do this better or more easily 
than yourself. You have the wife of my good nephew 
Tedbald, the late marquess, and relying on her aid all 
the people will come over to you ”. Sarlio accordingly 
set out and the people of Camerino and Spoleto 
did exactly as the king had said they would. So, 
getting a force of men together, he halfened with all 
speed to the city where Anscar was living. Hearing 
of his approach Anscar called to him one of his squires, 
a man named Wikbert, and addressed him in these 
words : — 

“ The craven Sarlio comes forth to fight 
And vainly trusts that numbers give him might. 
Up then, with hearts and swords of tempered £teel 
And let him in red Strife your valour feel. 

A chosen band, well trained in many a fray, 

All warriors bold, is now upon the way 
Attending me their lord. Soon you will see 
The shining arms that presage victory.” 

Ch. VI. Wikbert was a man of military experience 
as well as courage, and when he heard this he replied : — 
“Wait and get together as large a force as you can. 
It is a hazardous thing to engage so numerous an 
army as his with these few troops. Moreover, if 
you consider, the men with whom we have to deal are 
men of valour, as well trained in battle as we are ”. 
Wikbert’s advice was good and Anscar had already 
decided to follow it and by sending messengers in all 
direftions to get an army together, when a certain 
Arcod, a Burgundian by descent, attacked Wikbert’s 
plan in bitter words : — “ You are like Chremes in 
the play he said, “ who in fear of Thraso advised 
Thais to lock up the house until he should bring 

1 Terence, Eunucbus , IV, vi, 23. 


179 



Antapodosis 

helpers from the market place. Thais refused and 
then, like you, he said : — ‘ It is foolish to allow what 
you can safely avoid. I prefer to provide against 
injury rather than to avenge it when it has been done ’ ”. 
To that Wikbert replied : — “ You do well to mention 
Thraso. At firft he was full of windy rage and fury, 
but when he was faced by the real thing, he ported 
Syriscus on the right wing and Symalio on the left, and 
chose for himself a strategic position in the rear. That 
the Burgundians also are talkative, greedy cowards, no 
one who knows them doubts. How many flout fights 
you have waged, and how many you have escaped by 
running away, the scars on your back declare 

Ch. VII. Excited by this discussion Anscar and 
Wikbert hastened to engage Sarlio, as soon as they 
heard of his approach, although he was in force and 
they had only a few men. Sarlio had six divisions, 
three of which he sent againft the one that Anscar 
commanded ; he himself remained the other side of 
the river with the remaining three and awaited events. 
He was afraid, indeed, that not even his huge numbers 
could save him if Anscar once set eyes upon him. The 
battle began at once : Arcod ran away and dis- 
appeared : Wikbert, who thought it better to die 
than retreat, received a mortal wound. When 
Anscar was trying to find out who of his men had been 
slain, he was met by Wikbert, covered both with his 
own and with others’ blood, who said to him : — 
“ Two fine divisions are advancing now againft us. 
I earnestly beg and entreat you not to await but rather 
to refuse their attack. Arcod, as you know, was the 
prompter of this fray and you see in what fashion he 
has deserted us. I am at my laft gasp and have no 
more thought of fighting. I only pray God to have 
mercy on my soul, and not to lay to my charge the 
crimes I have committed to-day for love of you in 

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sending down so many men to death. ”. With these 
words he expired. 

Ch. VIII. Anscar got together what men he could, 
and meeting two companies of the enemy leaped 
forward madly into their midffc and dealt destruction 
all around. A certain Count Hatto was in command 
of these two divisions, and he now advanced againft 
Anscar with some confidence, since he saw that his 
spear head was shattered and that he held only the 
shaft in his hand. Anscar eyed him Sternly and cried : 
“ Are you the perjurer who had no regard for the 
oath you swore in God’s name on the cross and the 
sacred relics, but deserted me, your liege lord, and 
went over, like a cowardly turncoat, to that fox 
Sarlio ? Up till now you have only dreamed that 
‘ the ghosts are somewhere and the nether realm n ; 
and that there is a river called Cocytus with ‘ black 
frogs upon the Stygian wave ’. But now you will 
very soon find that they are real ”. With these words 
he thruSt the pointless spear violently between the 
other’s lips and forced it through the back of his head 
all bespattered with blood and brains. Then seizing 
his sword he began to fight Stoutly against the crowd 
who fell upon him. Unaided and without assistance 
he flood up againSt the attack of almoSt a whole 
army, charging them in all directions, until at laSt 
his horse slipped into a ditch and fell on top of its 
rider with its head down and its legs in the air. Then 
the enemy rushed in upon him and dispatched him with 
a shower of missiles. So Anscar died : Sarlio took 
over the march without opposition, and King Hugh 
was greatly pleased. 

Ch. IX. While these things were happening the 
mountain districts that encircle Italy and separate it 
from the weft and north were being cruelly devastated 

1 Juvenal II 149. 

181 



Antapodosis 

by the Saracens of Fraxinetum ; King Hugh accor- 
dingly on the advice of his counsellors despatched 
messengers to Constantinople asking the emperor 
Romanos to send him some of his Greek fireships, 
which the Greeks in their own language call chelandia. 
His idea was himself to march by land and root out 
the Stronghold of Fraxinetum, while the Greeks 
blockaded the sea side with their fleet, burning the 
Saracens’ ships and completely preventing any rein- 
forcements or supplies of food reaching them from 
Spain. 

Ch. X. Meanwhile Berengar, marquess of Ivrea 
and brother of the aforesaid Anscar, began to plot 
secretly againSf the king. Hugh became aware of 
this, but disguised his wrath and pretended to wish 
him well. He arranged, however, to get him into 
his hands and then put out his eyes. His little son 
Lothair, who was ftill unaware of his own beffc interests, 
got knowledge of this design and being but a child 
incapable of concealment sent a messenger to Berengar 
to acquaint him of his father’s intention. Berengar 
thereupon left Italy with all speed and hastened over 
the Saint Bernard to Duke Hermann in Swabia, 
telling his wife Willa to come to the same place by 
another route. When she set out she was with child 
and very near her time, and yet she got across the 
Vogelberg. How she was able to cross that rough and 
pathless mountain on foot I cannot possibly compre- 
hend : it would be miraculous if I did not know that 
fortune has always been againft me. Alas ! Lothair 
did not know the future, nor could he see what a 
snare he set for himself. In taking thought for 
Berengar he prepared the loss of his own throne and 
life. I do not blame Lothair, who erred in childish 
folly and bitterly repented afterwards : I rather 
curse that cruel mountain which changed its usual 

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fashion and allowed them an easy passage. I would 
fain cry out an insult upon it : 

Ch. XI. 

Wicked mountain, once so famed, 

Never more shalt thou be named 
“ Pathless ” : for thou couldft have slain 
That foul fiend and didlf refrain. 

Even when the burning sun 
Tells that harvest has begun 
And the reaper’s sharpened blade 
To the ruddy corn is laid ; 

Even then thy frozen snow 
Never passage will allow. 

But to-day, when winter’s cold 
All the countryside doth hold. 

Thou doff give an easy way. 

If I had my wish, I’ld say — 

“ Caff the villain from his place 
’Mid the hills, and in disgrace 
Send him headlong down to hell ; 

He deserves his sentence well 

Berengar in safety goes 

And his path no danger knows : 

For that mountain slays the good 
And preserves the devil’s brood 
Of the savage Moorish crew, 

Who their scimitars embrue 
In the blood of captives slain 
And their food by pillage gain. 

Well, I pray the lightning blaft 
May upon thy rocks be caft, 

And that deep to chaos hurled 
Thou mayeft ftay till ends this world ! 

Ch. XII. When Berengar arrived, Hermann, duke 
of the Swabians, received him kindly and brought him 

183 



Antapodosis 

with, all due honours into the presence of the moSt 
pious King Otto. With what consideration the king 
welcomed him, what gifts he bestowed, and what 
honours he gave, my pen diStruSts its power to relate. 
But the sagacious reader will easily be able to under- 
hand from my account what righteousness and courtesy 
the king displayed, and what a villain Berengar turned 
out to be. 

Ch. XIII. King Hugh, hearing of Berengar’s flight, 
sent envoys to King Otto, promising to give him any 
amount of gold and silver that he might decide, if 
only he would not shelter Berengar or give him any 
assistance. To them the king made the following reply 
in explanation of his adtion : — “ Berengar has sought 
my protedtion, not with any idea of overthrowing 
your maSter but rather, if possible, of becoming 
reconciled to him again. If I can help him in this 
matter with your maSter, so far from accepting the 
treasures he offers me, I moSt willingly give him mine. 
But when Berengar or any one else implores my 
clemency and protedtion, it would be the height of 
madness to refuse him my aid ”. Consider therefore 
what love and affection the pious king showed to a 
man, for whom he was willing to spend his own money 
rather than receive the money that was offered on 
his account ! 

Ch. XIV. While these events were taking place, the 
emperor of Constantinople sent his envoys in company 
with King Hugh’s, telling him that he would supply 
him with ships and all that he required, if he would 
give his daughter in marriage to his little grandson, 
his namesake, son of ConStantine. I mean ConStantine 
the son of the Emperor Leo, not Constantine the son 
of Romanos himself. There were three j oint emperors 
with Romanos, his own two sons, Stephen and Con- 
Stantine, and ConStantine son of the Emperor Leo, 

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Tit-for-Tat 

with whom we are now concerned. On receiving this 
message, King Hugh sent envoys again to Romanos, 
to tell him that he had not any daughters by his 
lawful wife, but that if he would take one by his 
concubine he could supply a bride of exceptional 
beauty. In reckoning a person’s nobility the Greeks 
consider the father’s rank and not the mother’s ; and 
so Romanos at once equipped his Greek fire ships, sent 
off handsome presents, and gave instructions for the 
marriage between the lady and his grandson to take 
place. My Stepfather, a man of weight and distinction, 
and one full of wisdom, was King Hugh’s envoy on 
this occasion. Therefore it would not be inopportune 
to insert here the account I have often heard him 
give of the emperor’s wisdom and courtesy and of the 
manner in which he conquered the Rusii. 

Ch. XV. There is a certain northern people whom 
the Greeks call Rusii, “ les roux ” from the colour 
of their skins, while we from the position of their 
country call them Nordmanni, “ northmen ”. In the 
Teuton language “ nord ” means north, and man ” 
means “ human being ”, so that Nordmanni is equiv- 
alent to “ men of the north ”. These people had a 
king named Igor, who got together a fleet of a thousand 
ships or more, and sailed for Constantinople. The 
Emperor Romanos hearing of this was diStraCted by 
various thoughts ; for his naval forces were either 
engaged againSt the Saracens or occupied in guarding 
the islands. He spent some sleepless nights in reflec- 
tion while Igor devastated the coaSt lands, and at laSt 
he was informed that there were fifteen old battered 
galleys in the yards which had been allowed to go 
out of commission. Thereupon he called les conflruc- 
teurs des bateaux , that is, the ship carpenters, into his 
presence and said to them : — “ Make haSte and get 
the old galleys ready for service without delay. 

185 



Antapodosis 

Moreover, put the fire- throwers not only at the bows 
but at the Item and both sides as well ”. When the 
galleys had been equipped according to his infractions, 
he collected his most skilful sailors, and bade them 
give King Igor battle. So they set out ; and when 
King Igor saw them on the open sea he ordered his 
men to capture them alive and not kill them. But 
the merciful and compassionate Lord willed not 
only to proteCt His worshippers who pray to Him and 
beg His aid, but also to give them the honour of 
victory. Therefore He lulled the winds and calmed 
the waves ; for otherwise the Greeks would have had 
difficulty in hurling their fire. As they lay, surrounded 
by the enemy, the Greeks began to fling their fire all 
around ; and the Rusi seeing the flames threw 
themselves in hafe from their ships, preferring to be 
drowned in the water rather than burned alive in the 
fire. Some sank to the bottom under the weight of 
their cuirasses and helmets which they were never to 
see again ; some caught fire even as they swam among 
the billows ; not a man that day escaped save those 
who managed to reach the shore. For the Rusan 
ships by reason of their small size can move in very 
shallow water where the Greek galleys because of their 
greater draught cannot pass. As the result of this 
Igor returned to his own country completely demoral- 
ised, while the victorious Greeks returned in triumph 
to Confantinople bringing a hof of prisoners with 
them. These were all beheaded in the presence of 
King Hugh’s envoy, namely my fepfather, by order 
of Romanos. 

Ch. XVI. King Hugh having now collected his 
army sent a fleet across the Gulf of Lyons to Frax- 
inetum and proceeded thither himself by land. As 
soon as the Greeks arrived they defrayed all the 
Saracens’ ships with their fire. Moreover the king 

1 86 



Tit-for-Tat 

forced his way into Fraxinetum and compelled the 
Saracens to retreat to Moors Mountain, where he 
would have been able to capture them by investment 
if the circumstance I am about to relate had not 
prevented him. 

Ch. XVII. King Hugh was very much afraid that 
Berengar would colleft a force in France and Swabia, 
and come down upon him and rob him of his throne. 
So, following bad advice, he sent the Greeks back to 
their own country and himself concluded a treaty 
with the Saracens, arranging for them to Stay in the 
mountains that separate Swabia and Italy, and prevent 
Berengar from passing if he happened to lead an army 
that way. How many Christian pilgrims on their 
way to the thresholds of the blessed ApoStles Peter 
and Paul were slain by these heathen under this 
convention, He alone knows who has their names 
written in the Book of Life. How unjuStly, King 
Hugh, do you attempt to defend your throne ! 
Herod slew the Innocents to prevent the loss of his 
earthly kingdom ; you, to keep yours, spare guilty 
men worthy of death. And would that those guilty 
ones had been allowed to live on condition that they 
did not afterwards slay the innocent ! I think, or 
more exactly, I believe that you have neither read nor 
heard the ftory of Ahab, and how the king of Israel 
incurred the anger of the Lord by making a truce 
with Benadab king of Syria and letting a man go who 
deserved death. It was one of the sons of the prophets 
who said to Ahab : “ Thus saith the Lord : ‘ Because 
thou haft let go out of thy hand a man whom I appointed 
to utter deftruftion, therefore thy life shall go for 
his life, and thy people for his people ’ ”. And so 
it happened. But what disafters you brought upon 
yourself by this aft, my pen will more suitably describe 
at the proper season. 


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Antapodosis 

Ch. XVIII. At the time when Berengar fled from 
Italy, he was accompanied by one of his vassals, a 
man of noble birth named Amedeus, who, as was 
shown later, was not inferior to Ulysses himself in 
cunning and audacity. The valiant King Otto was 
prevented by various reasons from supplying Berengar 
with men ; and furthermore King Hugh kept him 
quiet by the immense sums of money he gave him 
every year. Accordingly the aforesaid Amedeus went 
to Berengar and addressed him thus : — “ It is not 
unknown to you, my lord, how hateful King Hugh 
has made himself to all the Italians by the harshness 
of his rule, especially seeing that he gives every position 
of importance to the sons of his concubines or to the 
Burgundians, and that there is not one Italian noble 
to-day who has not either been driven from the 
country or deprived of all his dignities. The only 
reason that they do not concert a revolt againft the 
king is that they lack a leader. So if some one amongffc 
us were to go there in disguise and find out their 
wishes, he would doubtless be able to hatch a plot 
which would be all to our advantage ”. To this 
Berengar replied : — “ No one can do this more easily, 
or more effectually than yourself ”. So Amedeus 
disguised himself and joined some poor folk who were 
going on a pilgrimage to Rome. Thus under pretext 
of a Roman visit he got into Italy, met the Italian 
princes, and found out what they variously desired. 
But he did not show himself to them all in the same 
guise : for one he darkened his skin, for another he 
had rosy cheeks, for a third his face was covered with 
spots. At laCfc it got to the king’s ears that he was in 
Italy, for “ rumour is a hot-foot jade and to swiftness 
owes her Strength and orders were given that 
diligent search should be made for him. Amedeus 

1 Virgil, Aentid, IV, 174. 


188 



Tit-for-Tat 

then befouled his beautiful long beard with pitch 
and changed the colour of his golden hair by the help 
of black dye, and so, with dirty face and limping gait, 
appeared among the beggars who took their food in 
the king’s presence. He actually faced Hugh naked 
and received from him a cloak to wear, listening 
meanwhile to all that the king was saying about 
himself and Berengar. Then, after having carefully 
investigated the whole position, he returned to his 
maSter ; but not this time with the pilgrims, as he 
had come. The king had given orders to the guards 
at the frontier barriers to allow no one to pass until 
they had thoroughly satisfied themselves as to his 
identity. Amedeus heard of this and got across the 
frontier by rough trackless country where no guards 
were set ; and so reached Berengar bringing with 
him exactly the news that he wished to hear. 

Ch. XIX. At this time King Hugh made peace 
with the Hungarians, giving them ten pecks of money. 
He then exa&ed hostages and expelled them from 
Italy, supplying them with a guide to show them the 
road to Spain. The reason that they never got to 
that country and to the city of Cordoba, where your 
king has his lodging, was that for three days they had 
to traverse a waterless diftridt, barren with drought. 
Thinking that they and their horses would die there 
of thirSt, they beat to death the guide that Hugh had 
given them and went back quicker than they came. 

Ch. XX. At this same time King Hugh sent his 
daughter Berta, whom he had had by the courtesan 
Pezola, to Constantinople to be married to the little 
Romanos, son of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the 
ceremony being performed by Sigefred, the venerable 
bishop of Parma. The imperial power was then held 
by the elder Romanos and his two sons ConStantine 
and Stephen. Next to Romanos however in order of 

189 



Antapodosis 

precedence came Constantine, son of the emperor 
Leo, whose little son by Helena, the elder Romanos’ 
daughter, married the aforesaid Berta, whose name 
was changed by the Greets to Eudoxia. These four 
then were joint emperors, when the two brothers 
Stephen and Consfantine, without the knowledge of 
ConStantine son of the emperor Leo, prepared to 
play un mauvais tour , that is, a naSty trick upon their 
father Romanos. They were weary of his Stridfc 
control which did not allow them to do anything 
that they wished. So, listening to bad advice, they 
began to consider how they might deprive him of 
the throne. 

Ch. XXI. The palace at Constantinople surpasses 
both in beauty and in Strength all the fortresses I have 
ever seen, and it is moreover guarded constantly by 
a great crowd of soldiers. It is the cuStom to open 
the gates to everyone soon after daybreak, but at 
nine o’clock the signal “ mis ” is given and all have 
to leave, entrance being then forbidden until three 
o’clock in the afternoon. In this palace Romanos 
lived in State in the fineSt room, le salon d’or, that is, 
the golden chamber, handing over the reSt of the 
palace to his son-in-law ConSfantine and his two sons 
Stephen and ConStantine. These two latter, dis- 
contented, as we have said, with their father’s juSt 
severity, collected a large force in their apartments, 
and fixed upon a date when they should dethrone 
their father and become themselves sole rulers. The 
longed for day arrived, and when everyone, as usual, 
had left the palace, Stephen and ConSfantine got 
their men together and fell upon their father. They 
got him out of the palace without the citizens knowing 
anything of it, and after giving him the monastic 
tonsure sent him off to philosophize in an island near 
by, where a congregation of monks were pursuing 

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Tit-for-Tat 

their studies. Very soon, however, the voice of loud 
rumour made itself heard in the city. People began 
to cry out that Romanos was dethroned, others that 
his son-in-law Constantine had been murdered. In 
a moment the whole multitude flocked to the palace. 
Loud mutinous cries of “ ConStantine ” were raised, 
and so at the requeSt of Stephen and ConStantine, the 
popular favourite went to that side of the palace 
where the vaSt space of the ZucaniStrion 1 Stretches 
and put h’s dishevelled head through the lattice. His 
appearance quieted the popular disturbance and the 
crowd had to return home : but all this of course was 
very annoying to the two brothers. “ What good is 
it that our father has abdicated ”, they said, “ if we 
have to endure another maSter, who is not our father ? 
It would be more tolerable and more honourable for 
us to submit to a paternal despotism than to a Stranger’s 
tyranny. Moreover, foreigners as well as his own 
people came flocking to this fellow’s aid. Bishop 
Sigefred, King Hugh’s envoy, with his fellow-country- 
men from Amalfi, Rome and Caieta, was here, prepared 
to help him and deStroy us.” 

Ch. XXII. Thereupon they filled their rooms 
again with armed men, as they had done for their 
father. The commander of these troops was Diavo- 
linus, who after having prompted the brothers now 
betrayed them. He found ConStantine bent over 
his books and addressed him thus : “ Your longstanding 
rule of righteous conduit keeps you in ignorance of 
the dangers which threaten you at the hands of 
Stephen and ConStantine, your brothers and enemies. 
If you realized the fate they have prepared for you, 
you would be taking measures now to save your life. 
Your wife’s brothers have collected an armed force 
and have them now shut up in their own apartments, 

1 A building, facing the polo ground, constructed by Theodosius II. 

191 



Antapodosis 

and they intend, not to drive you from the palace 
as they did their father, but to murder you within 
its walls. Their opportunity will come three days 
from now, when they intend to invite you to a 
banquet. When you attempt to take your seat in the 
centre, as is your highness’ custom, a blow will be 
struck upon a shield, the soldiers will burSt out from 
the room, and your life will end in bloodshed. If 
you want a proof of what I say, I can give you plain 
evidence this very moment. In the firft place I can 
show you the concealed soldiers through a hole in 
the wall ; and secondly, what is more important for 
your safety, I hand you now the keys of the doors ”. 
At this Constantine said : “ Well, as you have revealed 
to me this treacherous plot, tell me next how I may 
baffle it. My life is dear to me, but I shall take even 
greater pleasure in piously repaying your services 
Then Diavolinus said : “ You are not unaware that 
the Macedonian guards are both Sturdy fighters and 
devoted to yourself : send for them and fill your own 
rooms with troops without letting Stephen and 
ConStantine know. When the day appointed for the 
banquet comes and the dispute for pride of place 
begins, give the signal I told you of by Striking upon 
a shield. Their men will not be able to get out to 
help them, while your guards will leap upon them 
unexpectedly and make them prisoners. It will be 
a surprise attack and perfectly easy. Then you can 
send them across the water with their heads duly 
tonsured to philosophize in the monastery close by, 
where they sent their and your wife’s father. Your 
enterprise will be favoured by God’s rightful judgment, 
consideration for which did not prevent them from 
sinning againSt their father, although it has guarded 
you from offence ”. That God’s juSt verdiCt was in 
this matter fulfilled is proclaimed to-day by Europe 

192 



Tit-for-Tat 

and Asia and Africa. On the appointed day, when 
under pretence of friendship the brothers had invited 
Constantine to a banquet and a disturbance was 
beginning over pride of place, a blow was Struck upon 
a shield, as we have said, and the Macedonians made 
their unexpected appearance. The two brothers 
Stephen and ConStantine were at once arreSted, had 
their heads tonsured, and were sent off to philosophize 
in the neighbouring island to which they had des- 
patched their father. 

Ch. XXIII. When their father Romanos heard of 
their arrival, he rendered thanks to God and with a 
glad face came to meet them outside the monaifery 
door. “ O happy hour,” he cried, “ that has com- 
pelled your maj efties to visit my humble eftate. The 
affeftion which drove me from the palace, I suppose, 
has not allowed your filial love to remain there any 
longer. What a good thing it was that you sent me 
here some time firSt. My brothers and fellow soldiers 
in ChriSt give all their time to philosophy, and they 
would not have known how to receive emperors if 
they did not have in me an expert in imperial etiquette. 
Here is boiled water for you colder than the Gothic 
snows : here are soft beans, greenstuff and fresh cut 
leeks. There are no fishmonger’s delicacies to cause 
illness ; that is rather brought about by our frequent 
faffs. Our modest abode has no room for a large and 
extravagant company ; but it is juft large enough for 
your majesties who have refused to desert your father 
in his old age.” I need not say, for you can well 
believe how modeftly Stephen and Conftantine caffc 
down their eyes while their father was indulging in 
these sarcasms and how unwillingly they entered the 
monastery. Then Romanos with arms extended 
flung himself before the base of the altar and poured 
forth this tearful prayer : — 

193 



Antapodosis 


Ch. XXIV. 

“ O Christ, with Father and the Spirit one, 

Word of the Father, whence the Light hath shone 
On this dark world, and to onr mortal eyes 
He hath revealed His heavenly mysteries. 

Look on the creature that thy goodness made, 

And let me not by Satan be betrayed 
Whom thou didfl ransom with thy sacred blood. 

I pray thee, Saviour ; let my strength hold good 
To tread the world’s vain strife beneath my feet 
And ftill resolve the tempter foul to cheat 
Who seeks to spoil our happiness. I crave 
No power on earth if I salvation have. 

And thanks to thee I see them overthrown 
Who took their father’s empire for their own.” 

Ch. XXV. After this Stephen and Constantine were 
kept constantly under close guard ; but their father 
submitted to his lot with equanimity. We are told 
by reliable witnesses that when the brothers reproached 
him for weeding beans he replied : — “ It is a more 
glorious kingdom to serve the humble needs of God’s 
servants than to rule over the proud sinners of this 
world ”. 

Ch. XXVI. Meanwhile Berengar by requeSt left 
Swabia with a few attendants and made his way 
through Fair Valley to Italy. He there pitched camp 
close to the fortress known as The Ants’ Neff, which 
Manasses, archbishop of Arles and Trient and usurper 
of the bishoprics of Verona and Mantua, had at that 
time, as we have said before, entrusted to the care of 
his clerk Adelard. Berengar saw that neither siege 
train nor attack by ftorm were of any use againft this 
ffronghold, but knowing Manasses’ ambition and his 
fatuiti, that is, his shallow boaftfulness, he asked for 
an interview with Adelard and addressed bim thus : — 

194 



Tit-for-Tat 

“ If you put this fort in my hands and bring over 
your mafter Manasses to my side, when I gain kingly 
power I will give him the rank of archbishop of Milan 
and make you bishop of Como. And that you may 
believe my promise, I hereby confirm my offer by 
oath When Manasses heard of this from Adelard, 
not only did he order him to hand over the fort to 
Berengar but he invited all the Italians to join his side. 

Ch. XXVII. So Rumour, “ hot-foot jade, surpassing 
swift, who from her speed draws strength ”, very soon 
announced to all men the coming of Berengar, and 
people began to leave Hugh and attach themselves 
to the invader. The firft to do so was Milo, the 
powerful count of Verona. Hugh suspected him and 
had set guards secretly to keep him under watch. He 
pretended not to notice and one evening prolonged 
a banquet till midnight. Then, when all heavy with 
sleep and the wine god had given their weary limbs 
to reft, he ftole away attended only by his shield 
bearer and hastened to Verona. Thence he sent 
messengers to Berengar and offered him the town as 
a base of firm resiftance to Hugh. It mud be allowed 
that it was not disloyalty which thus severed him from 
his king : the latter had inflidted upon him some 
slights which he could not endure any longer. His 
lead was followed by Wido, bishop of Modena, who 
had not been injured in any way but coveted the great 
abbey of Nonantola, which he afterwards got into his 
hands. He not only deserted Hugh but brought a 
number of others with him. Hugh, hearing of this, 
colledted his forces and attacked his caftle of Vignola, 
an attack that may truthfully be called as useless as 
it was valiant, as the following will show. While 
he was occupied there Berengar left Verona and at the 
invitation of Archbishop Arderic hastened to Milan. 
This news brought Hugh in sad depression to Pavia. 

195 



Antapodosis 

Meanwhile all the chief men in Italy began to 
leave Hugh’s ill starred fortunes and to join the needy 
Berengar. I call a man needy, not when he possesses 
nothing, but when he finds that nothing is ever 
sufficient. The unprincipled and greedy find their 
possessions always uncertain and dependent on chance 
and they ever seek more. No one among them is 
satisfied with what he has and they should be con- 
sidered as beggarly paupers rather than as rich men of 
wealth. They alone are rich and possess a fruitful 
and a lasting estate, who are content with their 
lot and think what they have is enough. To have 
no desires is real wealth : not to be fond of buying 
things is the be£t of incomes. Let us confess the 
truth. Which is the richer, the man who wants or 
the man who has more than sufficient ? The man 
who needs or the man who has abundance ? The 
man who finds that the greater his possessions the 
more they need to protedf them, or the man who can 
rely on his own strength ? To be satisfied with one’s 
fortunes is the greatest and mod certain riches. On 
this topic let this suffice. My eager pen muff now 
return to Berengar, at whose appearance all men 
thought that the golden age had come again and 
cried out — O happy age that has produced such a 
man as this ”. 

Ch. XXF11I. While he was busy at Milan, distri- 
buting the high offices of Italy to his adherents, King 
Hugh sent his son Lothair to present himself to 
Berengar and the whole nation, asking them, as they 
were getting rid of him as not being to their tafte, 
to welcome his innocent son for the love of God and 
make him compliant with their wishes. Then, while 
Lothair made his way to Milan, Hugh left Pavia with 
all his money and prepared to abandon Italy and go to 
Burgundy. One thing however stopped him. When 

196 



Tit-for-Tat 

Lothair prostrated himself before the cross in the 
church of the blessed confessor Ambrose and the 
blessed martyrs Gervasius and Protasius, the people 
were seized with compassion for him, and raising him 
up proclaimed him as king, while they also sent a 
messenger immediately after Hugh, promising that 
he should rule over them again. This proposal, or 
rather this trick, was Berengar’s sole invention and 
was in accordance with the cunning wherewith he was 
ffcuffed full. He did not mean either of them to be 
king, but he wanted, as was seen later, to prevent Hugh 
from getting away and calling in the Burgundians or 
some other people again!! him by the help of his 
immense wealth. 

Ch. XXIX. At this time a certain Joseph was 
bishop of Brescia, a man of good repute, young in 
years but old in wisdom. As he was of upright 
charadfer, Berengar, with his usual piety, deprived 
him of his see, and appointed Antony, who is ftill 
alive, in his place, without either holding a council or 
consulting with the other bishops. Moreover he did 
not appoint Adelard to the see of Como, as he had 
sworn to do, but out of affe&ion for the archbishop of 
Milan chose a certain Waldo as bishop. What a good 
appointment that was is shown in outward signs and in 
people’s groans, by the decrease of the congregation, 
the cutting down of vines, the Gripping of bark from 
trees, the knocking out of eyes, and the constant 
repetition of quarrels. As for Adelard, he made him 
bishop of Reggio. 

Ch. XXX. He intended to expel Boso, Hugh’s 
baftard, from the see of Piacenza and Liutefred from 
Pavia, but for a monetary consideration he let them 
alone, pretending that he a£fed out of love of God. 
How immense then was the joy in Italy ! “ Another 

David has come ” men cried ; and in their blindness 

197 



Antapodosis 

said that he was greater than Charlemagne. For 
though the Italians had accepted Hugh and Lothair 
as kings again and Berengar was nominally only a 
marquess, in the reality of power he was king, and the 
other two, if kings in name, were actually held as 
less important than counts. Why say more ? My 
parents were so allured by Berengar’s reputation and 
by his fame for courtesy and generosity that they put 
me into his service, and at very great expense got me 
appointed as his private secretary responsible for all 
ffcate despatches. I served him faithfully for years 
and he repaid me — O shame ! — in the fashion that I 
shall describe in due season. His conduct would 
almost have driven me to despair if I had not found 
many others as companions in misfortune. To him 
those beautiful words 1 apply : — “ The wings of the 
oftrich are like the wings of the hawk and the heron. 
When the time has come, she lifteth her wings on 
high, and scorneth the horse and his rider ”. While 
Hugh and Lothair were with us, he, the huge greedy 
oftrich, though not really good, yet seemed good. 
But when they were deposed and everyone put him 
upon the throne, how then he lifted his wings and 
scorned us all I am going to relate, not so much in 
words as in sighs and groans. But let us leave this 
now and return to the order of my narrative. 

Ch. XXXI. King Hugh, being unable to escape 
God’s punishment or get the maflery over Berengar, 
left Lothair behind under Berengar’s protedfion, 
pretending that he was his friend, and taking all his 
money with him hastened back to Provence. Where- 
upon Raimond prince of the Aquitanians came to him 
and in consideration of a large sum offered himself 
as his vassal, declaring under oath that he would be 
his loyal supporter. He promised moreover that he 

1 Job , xxxixy 1 8 . 


198 



Tit-for-Tat 

would collect his forces, march into Italy, and crush 
Berengar ; a laughable offer which the worthless 
character of his people rendered ridiculous. However, 
even if he could have been of any help, his proposal 
could not have been put into effeft ; for soon after- 
wards at the Lord’s summons King Hugh took the 
way of all flesh, leaving his money to his niece Berta, 
widow of Boso Count of Arles. This lady, after a 
short interval the aforesaid Raimond, a fellow even 
more filthy than the filthy people he ruled, got for 
his wife, although competent judges of beauty vigor- 
ously assert that he was quite unworthy of her bed 
or even of one kiss from her lips. 

Ch. XXXII. It was at this time that Berta’s sifter 
Willa, wife of Berengar, incurred the charge of 
unchaftity. Her conduct was not only known to the 
chamberlains and other officials of the court, but was 
the common talk of all the tradesmen of the town. 
She had in her service as chaplain a prieftling named 
Dominic, a fellow of short ftature and swarthy com- 
plexion, boorish, hairy, intraftable, rough, shaggy, 
wild, uncouth, fond of mad ftrife, with a wanton 
tail like appendage, and no regard for right . 1 To his 
teaching Willa had entrufted her two daughters Gisla 
and Girberga, that they might imbibe from him a 
sound knowledge of literature. Taking advantage of 
the facetious lessons, which the hairy, unwashed 
prieft gave to the girls, the mother won his favourable 
notice by gifts of coftly robes and delicate food. 
Every one was surprised that a woman generally 
so ungracious, grasping and deteftable should suddenly 
show herself so generous in this one case. But the 
word of truth which says 2 : “ There is nothing hidden 
which shall not be revealed, nothing secret which 

1 Of Pan. Baehrens, Poet. lat. min., Ill, 170. 

2 St Matthew , x, 26. 


199 



Antapodosis 

shall not be made known ”, did not allow men to 
wonder for long. One night this hairy creature 
according to his wont was on his way to his mistress’ 
bed when a dog came on the scene, woke up the 
sleepers in the adjoining rooms with his fierce barking, 
and gave the prieCt several severe bites. The whole 
household jumped out of bed, seized the intruder, and 
asked him where he was going ; but his miftress 
anticipated any excuse on his part by crying — “ The 
villain was after my maids ”. Thereupon the miser- 
able prieft, thinking that it would be better for him 
to back up the lady, whined : — “ I confess ; that is 
the truth”. His mistress after this began to plot 
againft his life and offered a reward to anyone who 
would kill him. But as all her people were God- 
fearing men, she could not get her plan executed, and 
at la^h some gossip on the subjeCt reached Berengar’s 
ears. Then Willa had recourse to soothsayers and 
sorcerers, hoping that their charms would help her. 
Whether success was due to their incantations or to 
Berengar’s weakness I do not know : at any rate her 
husband gave way and of his own accord put his 
head into the conjugal halter. So the prieft was 
castrated for having whinnyed after his lady’s maids 
and dismissed from her service : the lady herself 
received more than ever of Berengar’s affeCtion. Those 
who turned the prieft into a eunuch declared there was 
good reason for the love his miftress bore him : his 
tool, they discovered, was worthy of Priapus himself. 

Ch. XXXIII. About this time Taxis, king of the 
Hungarians, came into Italy with a large army, and 
was paid ten pecks of money by Berengar, who got 
the amount not from his own purse but by making 
a collection from the churches and poor folk. Indeed 
his aCtion was not due to any regard for the people ; 
he used the opportunity to get a large sum of money 

200 



Tit-for-Tat 

together. In this he was successful enough. Every 
person of either sex, adults and babes at the breaft, 
had to pay one gold coin each. By mixing bronze 
coins with the gold he made up ten pecks : the reft 
of the money together with all that he took from the 
churches he kept for himself. 


201 




CONTENTS 


BOOK VI 


CHAPTER 

I Prefatory ........ 

II Of how the Emperor Constantine sent an envoy to 
Berengar ........ 

III Of the cunning manner in which Berengar sent an 
envoy to Constantinople without giving him 
anything ........ 

IV At what time the aforesaid envoy left Pavia and 
when he reached Constantinople . 

V Of the marvellous palace called Magnaura and the 
reception given to the envoy .... 

VI Of the gifts which the emperor Berengar ? s envoy 
made out of his own purse, on behalf of Berengar 
who had sent nothing ..... 

VII Of how the emperor invited Berengar’s envoy to 
his table ........ 

VIII Of the marvellous palace Decanea and its three huge 
golden vessels ....... 

IX Of the marvellous entertainment given at the 
emperor’s table ...... 

X Of the money paid out in the emperor’s presence 


PAGE 

20 5 
206 

206 

207 

207 

208 

209 

209 

210 

211 


203 




BOOK VI 


Ch. I. If it were not that the Lord had prepared 
a table in my sight against those who trouble me, the 
character of my fortunes to-day would call for a 
tragedy rather than a history from my pen. I cannot 
describe by what calamities I have been buffeted in 
my painful journeyings, and my outer man would 
prefer to sit down and weep rather than write words 
on paper. But my inner man is strengthened by 
the Apoftle’s ordinance 1 : — “ he glories in tribulations 
of this kind ; knowing that tribulation worketh 
patience ; and patience, experience ; and experience, 
hope ; and hope maketh not ashamed ; because the 
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy 
Ghoft which is given unto us ”. So let the outer 
yield to the inner man, and so far from shrinking from 
his misfortunes, let him rather reft content in them. 
If he concentrates on his writing and describes how 
some rise and some fall on fortune’s wheel, he will feel 
less acutely the troubles that now beset him. Let 
him rejoice at fortune’s mutability : he need fear no 
worse grief — that is impossible, unless he were to die 
or lose a limb — and let him always be expefting a 
turn for the better. If fortune changes his present 
ftate, she will bring him the happiness that he lacks 
and banish the sorrow that he has. So let him go on 
writing and add the true ftory that follows to his 
previous narrative. 

1 Romans , v, 3. 


205 



Antapodosis 

Ch. II. After the death of King Hugh in Provence 
the fame of Berengar spread abroad in many lands, 
and especially among the Greet peoples. By virtue 
of his abilities he was the chief man in Italy, while 
Lothair was king only in name. So ConStantine, who 
after the downfall of Romanos and his sons had become 
emperor at Constantinople, hearing that in actual 
power Berengar was superior to Lothair, sent him a 
letter by the hand of a certain Andreas, who from his 
functions had the title of “ prefect of the guard ”. 
In this letter he said that he was very desirous of a visit 
from an envoy of Berengar’s, that the latter on his 
messenger’s return might know with what affeCtion 
he was regarded. He also wrote him another letter 
on Lothair ’s behalf, commending him to his care and 
begging him to be faithful in administering the realm, 
to whose governance by God’s favour he had been 
appointed. ConStantine indeed had no small regard 
for Lothair’s welfare and made it a subject of scrupu- 
lous thought, owing to the affeCtion he felt for his 
son’s wife who was Lothair’s siSter. 

Ch. III. Accordingly Berengar, who was a man 
Stuffed full of cunning, began to consider whom he 
could beSt send without contributing anything himself 
to the expense of the long journey. He therefore 
sent for my Stepfather, under whose care I was then 
living, and addressed him thus : — “ What a boon it 
would be to me if your Stepson knew Greek ! ” My 
Stepfather replied : “ I would spend half my eState 
to give him that knowledge ”. “ Nay,” said Berengar, 

“ you need not spend one hundredth part of it. The 
emperor of Constantinople begs me in this letter to 
send an envoy to his court. As far as courage goes, 
no one could be better than your Stepson, and on the 
score of eloquence no one could be more satisfactory 
than he will be. And I need not tell you how easily 

206 



Tit-for-Tat 

there he will imbibe the learning of Greece, he who 
in his youth has drunk so deep of Latin knowledge 
At this my stepfather was fired by hope, contributed 
all the expenses of the journey, and sent me off, the 
bearer of handsome gifts, to Constantinople. 

Ch. IV. On the firSt of AuguSt I left Pavia and 
sailing down the Po arrived in three days at Venice. 
There I met a Greek envoy, the eunuch Salerno, 
chamberlain of the palace, who had juSt returned from 
Spain and Saxony. He was anxious to sail for Con- 
stantinople and was taking there with him an envoy 
from my present maSter, who was then king and is 
now emperor. This man, who was the bearer of 
coStly presents, was a rich merchant of Maintz called 
Liutefred. Finally we left Venice on the twenty- 
fifth of AuguSt and reached Constantinople on the 
seventeenth of September. It will be a pleasant task 
to describe the marvellous and unheard of manner of 
our reception. 

Ch. V. Next to the imperial residence at Con- 
stantinople there is a palace of remarkable size and 
beauty which the Greeks call Magnavra, the letter 
v taking the place of the digamma, and the name being 
equivalent to “ Fresh breeze In order to receive 
some Spanish envoys, who had recently arrived, as 
well as myself and Liutefred, ConSkantine gave orders 
that this palace should be got ready and the following 
preparations made. 

Before the emperor’s seat Stood a tree, made of 
bronze gilded over, whose branches were filled with 
birds, also made of gilded bronze, which uttered 
different cries, each according to its varying species. 
The throne itself was so marvellously fashioned that 
at one moment it seemed a low Structure, and at 
another it rose high into the air. It was of immense 
size and was guarded by lions, made either of bronze 

207 



Antapodosis 

or of wood covered over with gold, who beat the 
ground with their tails and gave a dreadful roar with 
open mouth and quivering tongue. Leaning upon 
the shoulders of two eunuchs I was brought into the 
emperor’s presence. At my approach the lions began 
to roar and the birds to cry out, each according to its 
kind; but I was neither terrified nor surprised, for 
I had previously made enquiry about all these things 
from people who were well acquainted with them. 
So after I had three times made obeisance to the 
emperor with my face upon the ground, I lifted my 
head, and behold ! the man whom juft before I had 
seen sitting on a moderately elevated seat had now 
changed his raiment and was sitting on the level of 
the ceiling. How it was done I could not imagine, 
unless perhaps he was lifted up by some such sort of 
device as we use for raising the timbers of a wine press. 
On that occasion he did not address me personally, 
since even if he had wished to do so the wide distance 
between us would have rendered conversation un- 
seemly, but by the intermediary of a secretary he 
enquired about Berengar’s doings and asked after his 
health. I made a fitting reply and then, at a nod from 
the interpreter, left his presence and retired to my 
lodging. 

Ch. VI. It would give me some pleasure also to 
record here what I did then for Berengar, so that all 
may recognize what affection I showed to him and 
what recompense I have received from him for my 
services. The Spanish envoys and the aforesaid 
Liutefred, who represented my present m.after who 
was then King Otto, had brought handsome gifts 
from their mafters to the emperor Conftantine. I for 
my part had brought nothing from Berengar except 
a letter and that was full of lies. I was very greatly 
disturbed and shamed at this and began to consider 

208 



Tit-for-Tat 

anxiously what I had better do. In my doubt and 
perplexity it finally occurred to me that I might 
offer the gifts, which on my own account I Kad 
brought for the emperor, as coming from Berengar, 
and trick out my humble present with fine words. 
I therefore presented him with nine excellent cuirasses, 
seven excellent shields with gilded bosses, two silver 
gilt cauldrons, some swords, spears and spits, and what 
was more precious to the emperor than anything, 
four carzimasia ; that being the Greek name for young 
eunuchs who have had both their testicles and their 
penis removed. This operation is performed by 
traders at Verdun, who take the boys into Spain and 
make a huge profit. 

Ch. VII. Three days after I had presented my 
gifts the emperor summoned me to the palace and 
personally invited me to dinner with him, after the 
banquet bellowing a handsome present on myself and 
my attendants. As the opportunity has occurred to 
describe the appearance of the emperor’s table, 
particularly on a feast day, and also the entertainments 
that are given there, I think it belt not to pass the 
matter over in silence but to give an account. 

Ch. VIII. There is a palace near the Hippodrome 
looking northwards, wonderfully lofty and beautiful, 
which is called “ Decanneacubita ”, “ The house of 
the nineteen couches ”. The reason of its name is 
obvious : “ deca ” is Greek for ten, “ ennea ” for 
nine, and “ cubita ” are couches with curved ends ; 
and on the day when Our Lord Jesus Christ was born 
according to the flesh nineteen covers are always laid 
here at the table. The emperor and his guefts on 
this occasion do not sit at dinner, as they usually do, 
but recline on couches : and everything is served in 
vessels, not of silver, but of gold. After the solid 
food fruit is brought on in three golden bowls, which 

209 


14 



Antapodosis 

are too heavy for men to lift and come in on carriers 
covered over with purple cloth. Two of them are 
put on the table in the following way. Through 
openings in the ceiling hang three ropes covered with 
gilded leather and furnished with golden rings. These 
rings are attached to the handles projecting from the 
bowls, and with four or five men helping from below, 
they are swung on to the table by means of a moveable 
device in the ceiling and removed again in the same 
fashion. As for the various entertainments I saw 
there, it would be too long a task to describe them all, 
and so for the moment I pass them by. One, however, 
was so remarkable that it will not be out of place to 
insert an account of it here. 

Ch. IX. A man came in carrying on his head, 
without using his hands, a wooden pole twenty-four 
feet or. more long, which a foot and a half from the 
top had a cross piece three feet wide. Then two 
boys appeared, naked except for loin cloths round their 
middle, who went up the pole, did various tricks on it, 
and then came down head firSt, keeping the pole all 
the time as Steady as though it were rooted in the earth. 
When one had come down, the other remained on the 
pole and performed by himself, which filled me with 
even greater astonishment and admiration. While 
they were both performing their feat seemed barely 
possible; for, wonderful as it was, the evenness of 
their weights kept the pole up which they climbed 
balanced. But when one remained at the top and 
kept his balance so accurately that he could both do 
his tricks and come down again without mishap, I 
was so bewildered that the emperor himself noticed 
my aftonishment. He therefore called an interpreter, 
and asked me which seemed the more wonderful, the 
boy who had moved so carefully that the pole remained 
firm, or the man who had so deftly balanced it on 

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Tit-for-Tat 

his head that neither the boys’ weight nor their 
performance had disturbed it in the leaSt. I said 
that I did not know which I thought plus merveilleux 
that is, more wonderful ; and he burfl into a loud 
laugh and said he was in the same case, he did not 
know either. 

Ch. X. I do not think that I ought to pass over in 
silence another Grange and wonderful sight that I saw 
there. In the week before the feafl Vaiophoron, 
which we call the FeaSt of Palms, the emperor makes 
a payment in gold coins to his vassals and to the 
different officers of his court, each one receiving a sum 
proportionate to his office. As I wished to be present 
at the ceremony, the emperor bade me attend it. 
The procedure was as follows. A table was brought 
in, fifteen feet long and six feet broad, which had upon 
it parcels of money tied up in bags, according to each 
man’s due, the amount being written on the outside 
of the bag. The recipients then came in and flood 
before the king, advancing in order as they were called 
up by a herald. The firft to be summoned was the 
marshall of the palace, who carried off his money, 
not in his hands but on his shoulders, together with 
four cloaks of honour. After him came the commander 
in chief of the army and the lord high admiral of the 
fleet. These being of equal rank received an equal 
number of money bags and cloaks, which they did not 
carry off on their shoulders but with some assistance 
dragged laboriously away. After them came twenty- 
four controllers, who each received twenty-four pounds 
of gold coins together with two cloaks. Then followed 
the order of patricians, of whom every one in turn was 
given twelve pounds of gold and one cloak. As I do 
not know how many patricians there are, I do not 
know the total amount that was paid ; but every one 
received an equal share. After them came a huge 

211 



Antapodosis 

crowd of minor dignitaries ; knights of the sword of 
the firft, second and third class, chamberlains, treasury 
and admiralty officials. Some of these received seven 
pounds of gold, others six, five, four, three, two and 
one, according to their rank. I would not have you 
think that this was all done in one day. It began on 
the fifth day of the week at six o’clock in the morning 
and went on till ten, and the emperor finished his 
part in the proceedings on the sixth and seventh day. 
Those who take less than a pound receive their share, 
not from the emperor, but from the chief chamberlain 
during the week before Eafter. While I was standing 
and marvelling at the proceedings the emperor sent 
his chancellor to me and asked me how the ceremony 
pleased me. “ It would please me ”, I replied, “ if 
it did me any good. When Dives was in torment the 
reft: that he saw Lazarus enjoying would have pleased 
him, if it had come his way. As it did not, how, 
pray, could it have pleased him ? ” The emperor 
smiled in some confusion, and motioned me to come 
to him. He then presented me with a large cloak 
and a pound of gold coins ; a gift which he willingly 
made and I even more willingly accepted. 


212 



LIBER DE REBUS GESTIS OTTONIS 
A Chromcls of Otto’s Riigm 




A CHRONICLE OF OTTO’S REIGN 

Ch. I. Berengar and Adalbert were reigning, or 
rather raging, in Italy, where, to speak the truth, they 
exercised the word of tyrannies, when John, the 
supreme pontiff and universal pope, whose church had 
suffered from the savage cruelty of the aforesaid 
Berengar and Adalbert, sent envoys from the holy 
church of Rome, in the persons of the cardinal deacon 
John and the secretary Azo, to Otto, at that time the 
mod serene and pious king and now our augud emperor, 
humbly begging him, both by letters and a recital of 
fads, for the love of God and the holy apodles Peter 
and Paul, whom he hoped would remit his sins, to 
rescue him and the holy Roman church entrusted to 
him from their jaws, and restore it to its former 
prosperity and freedom. While the Roman envoys 
were laying these complaints, Waldpert, the venerable 
archbishop of the holy church of Milan, having 
escaped half-dead from the mad rage of the aforesaid 
Berengar and Adalbert, sought the powerful protection 
of the above mentioned Otto, at that time king and 
now our augud emperor, declaring that he could no 
no longer bear or submit to the cruelty of Berengar 
and Adalbert and Willa, who contrary to all human 
and divine law had appointed Manasses Bishop of 
Arles to the see of Milan. He said that it was a 
calamity for his church thus to intercept a right that 
belonged to him and to his people. After Waldpert 
came Waldo Bishop of Como, crying out that he also 
had suffered a like insult at the hands of Berengar, 

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Chronicle of Otto’S Reign 

Adalbert and Willa. With the apoftolic envoys there 
also arrived some members of the laity, among them 
the illustrious marquess Otbert, asking help and advice 
from his moSt sacred majeSty Otto, then king now 
emperor. 

Ch. II. The moSt pious king was moved by their 
tearful complaints, and considered not himself but 
the cause of Jesus ChriSt. Therefore, although it was 
contrary to cuStom, he appointed his young son Otto 
as king, and leaving him in Saxony collected his 
forces and marched in haste to Italy. There he drove 
Berengar and Adalbert from the realm at once, the 
more quickly inasmuch as it is certain that the holy 
apoStles Peter and Paul were fighting under his flag. 
The good king brought together what had been 
scattered and mended what had been broken, restoring 
to each man his due possessions. Then he advanced 
on Rome to do the same again. 

Ch. III. There he was welcomed with marvellous 
ceremony and unexampled pomp, and was anointed as 
emperor by John the supreme bishop and universal 
pope. To the church he not only gave back her 
possessions but bestowed lavish gifts of jewels, gold 
and silver. Furthermore Pope John and all the 
princes of the city swore solemnly on the mofl precious 
body of Saint Peter that they would never give help 
to Berengar and Adalbert. Thereupon Otto returned 
to Pavia with all speed. 

Ch. IF. Meanwhile Pope John, forgetful of his 
oath and the promise he had made to the sacred 
emperor, sent to Adalbert asking him to return and 
swearing that he would assist him againfk the power 
of the mofl sacred emperor. For the sacred emperor 
had so terrified this Adalbert, persecutor of God’s 
churches and of Pope John, that he had left Italy 
altogether and had gone to Fraxinetum and put 

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Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

himself under the protection of the Saracens. The 
righteous emperor for his part could not understand 
at all why Pope John was now showing such affeftion 
to the very man whom previously he had attacked in 
bitter hatred. Accordingly he called together some 
of his intimates and sent off to Rome to inquire if 
this report was true. On his messengers’ arrival they 
got this answer, not from a few chance informants, 
but from all the citizens of Rome : — “ Pope John 
hates the moft sacred emperor, who freed him from 
Adalbert’s clutches, for exactly the same reason that 
the dev'l hates his creator. The emperor, as we have 
learned by experience, knows, works and loves the 
things of God : he guards the affairs of church and 
ftate with his sword, adorns them by his virtues, and 
purifies them by his laws. Pope John is the enemy 
of all these things. What we say is a tale well known 
to all. As witness to its truth take the widow of 
Rainer his own vassal, a woman with whom John has 
been so blindly in love that he has made her governor 
of many cities and given to her the golden crosses 
and cups that are the sacred possessions of St Peter 
himself. Witness also the case of Stephana, his 
father’s miftress, who recently conceived a child by 
him and died of an effusion of blood. If all else 
were silent, the palace of the Lateran, that once 
sheltered saints and is now a harlot’s brothel, will 
never forget his union with his father's wench, the 
sifter of the other concubine Stephania. Witness 
again the absence of all women here save Romans : 
they fear to come and pray at the thresholds of the 
holy apoftles, for they have heard how John a little 
time ago took women pilgrims by force to his bed, 
wives, widows and virgins alike. Witness the churches 
of the holy apoftles, whose roof lets the rain in upon 
the sacrosanft altar, and that not in drops but in 

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Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

sheets. The woodwork fills us with alarm, when we 
go there to ask God's help. Death reigns within the 
building, and, though we have much to pray for, we 
are prevented from going there and soon shall be 
forced to abandon God’s house altogether. Witness 
the women he keeps, some of them fine ladies who, as 
the poet says 1 , are as thin as reeds by dieting, others 
everyday buxom wenches. It is all the same to him 
whether they walk the pavement or ride in a carriage 
and pair . 4 That is the reason why there is the same 
disagreement between him and the holy emperor as 
there is of necessity between wolves and lambs . 3 That 
he may go his way unchecked, he is trying to get 
Adalbert, as patron, guardian and protedfor ”. 

Ch. F. When the envoys on their return gave this 
report to the emperor, he said : — “ He is only a boy, 
and will soon alter if good men set him an example. 
I hope that honourable reproof and generous persuasion 
will quickly cure him of these vices ; and then we 
shall say with the prophet : — ‘ This is a change which 
the hand of the Higheft has brought ’ ”. He added : — 
“ The firffc thing required by circumstances is that we 
dislodge Berengar from his position on Montefeltro. 
Then let us address some words of fatherly admonition 
to the lord pope. His sense of shame, if not his own 
wishes, will soon effedf a change in him for the better. 
Perchance if he is forced into good ways, he will be 
ashamed to get out of them again ”. 

Ch. FI. This done, the emperor went on board 
ship and sailed down the Po to Ravenna. Thence he 
advanced to Montefeltro, sometimes called St Leo’s 
Mountain, and besieged the fort in which Berengar 
and Willa had taken refuge. Thereupon the afore- 
said Pope John sent Leo, then the venerable chief 

1 Terence, Eunuchus , II, iii, 24. 2 Juvenal, VI, 350. 

3 Horace, Epodes> IV, 1. 


218 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

notary of the holy Roman church and now in that 
same see successor to Saint Peter chief of the apoStles, 
together with Demetrius, one of the moft illustrious 
of the Roman princes, as envoy to the holy emperor. 
By their mouths he declared that it was not surprising 
if in the heat of youth he had hitherto indulged in 
childish follies ; but now the time had come when he 
would fain live in a different fashion. He also cunning- 
ly alleged that the holy emperor had sheltered two of 
his disloyal subordinates, Bishop Leo and the cardinal 
deacon John, and that he was now breaking his sworn 
promise by letting them take an oath of allegiance 
not to the Pope but to the Emperor. To the envoys 
the emperor gave this answer : “I thank the pope 
for the change and improvement in his ways that he 
promises. As for the violation of pledges that he 
charges me with, judge yourselves if the accusation 
be true. We promised to restore all the territory of 
Saint Peter that might fall into our hands : and for that 
reason we are now striving to drive Berengar with all 
his household from yonder fort. How can we restore 
this territory to the pope, if we do not firSt wreSfc 
it from the hands of violent men and bring it under 
our control ? As for Bishop Leo and the cardinal 
deacon John, his disloyal subordinates, whom he 
accuses us of having welcomed, we have neither seen 
them in these days nor welcomed them. The lord 
pope sent them to Constantinople to do us damage, 
and on their way, we are told, they were taken prisoners 
at Capua. We are also informed that with them 
was arreSted a certain Saleccus, a Bulgarian by birth 
and an Hungarian by training, who is an intimate 
friend of the lord pope, and also a reprobate named 
Zacheus, a man quite ignorant of all literature sacred 
or profane, whom the lord pope has recently consecrated 
as bishop, with the intention that he should preach 

219 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

to the Hungarians a campaign against us. We would 
not have believed that the lord pope would have 
adted thus, whoever told us ; but his letter, sealed 
with leaden seals and bearing his signature, compels 
us to think that it is true 

Cb. VII. This done, the emperor sent Landohard 
the Saxon bishop of Minden and Liudprand the 
Italian bishop of Cremona to Rome in company with 
the pope’s envoys, to satisfy the lord pope that no 
blame attached to him. Furthermore the righteous 
emperor bade the soldiers of their guard to prove the 
truth of his words in single combat if the pope refused 
to believe him. The aforesaid bishops Landohard and 
Liudprand came before the lord pope at Rome, and 
although they were received with all due honour they 
saw clearly with what scorn and indifference he was 
prepared to treat the holy emperor. They explained 
everything in order, as they had been told to do, but 
the pope refused to be satisfied either with an oath 
or with a single combat and persisted in being obdurate. 
Still, a week later he craftily sent John, Bishop of 
Narni, and Benedict, cardinal deacon, back to the lord 
emperor with his envoys, thinking that by their tricks 
he could delude a man whom it is exceptionally 
difficult to deceive. Before they got back, however, 
Adalbert at the pope’s invitation had left Fraxinetum 
and reached Civita Vecchia ; whence he set out for 
Rome and there, so far from being repudiated by the 
pope, as he should have been, received from him an 
honourable welcome. 

Cb. VIII. While these things were going on, the 
fierce heat of the dog days kept the emperor away from 
the hills of Rome. But when the sun had entered the 
sign of the Virgin and brought a temperate change, 
he collected his forces, and at the secret invitation of 
the Romans drew near to the city. Yet why do I say 

220 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

“ secret ”, when the greater part of the Roman princes 
forced their way into the cattle of St Paul and giving 
homages invited the holy emperor to enter. Why 
make a long tale ? When the emperor pitched his 
camp in the vicinity, the pope and Adalbert made 
their escape together from Rome. The citizens 
welcomed the holy emperor and all his men into their 
town, promising again to be loyal and adding under a 
Strong oath that they would never eledt or ordain a pope 
except with the consent and approval of the auguSfc 
Caesar Otto the lord emperor and his son King Otto. 

Ch. IX. Three days later at the request of the 
bishops and people of Rome a synod was held in the 
church of St Peter, attended by the emperor and the 
Italian archbishops. The deacon Rodalf a died in place 
of Ingelfred patriarch of Aquileia, who had been 
siezed by a sudden sickness in that city; Waldpert 
came from Milan, Peter from Ravenna ; Archbishop 
Adeltac and Landohard, bishop of Minden, represented 
Saxony ; Otker, bishop of Spires, France. The 
Italian bishops were Hubert of Parma, Liudprand of 
Cremona, Hermenard of Reggio ; the Tuscans, 
Conrad of Lucca, Everard of Arezzo, the bishops of 
Pisa, Sienna, Florence, PiStoia, Peter of Camerino, 
the bishop of Spoleto ; the Romans, Gregory of 
Albano, Sico of OStia, Benedict of Porto, Lucidus of 
Gavio, Theophylatt of Palestrina, Wido of Selva 
Candida, Leo of Velletri, Sico of Bieda, Stephen of 
Cervetri, John of Nepi, John of Tivoli, John of San 
Liberato, Romanus of Ferentino, John of Norma, 
John of Veroli, Marinus of Sutri, John of Narni, John 
of Sabina, John of Gallese, the bishops of Civita, 
CaStellana, Alatri, Orte, John of Anagni, the bishop 
of Trevi, Sabbatinus of Terracina. There were also 
present : Stephen cardinal archprieft of the parish 
Balbina, Dominic of the parish AnaStasia, Peter of the 


221 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

parish Damasus, TheophylaSt of the parish Chryso- 
gonus, John of the parish Equitius, Peter of the parish 
Pamachius, Adrian of the parish Calixtus, John of the 
parish Caecilia, Adrian of the parish Lucina, Benedict 
of the parish Sixtus, Theophyladt of the parish Four 
Crowned Saints, Stephen of the parish Sabina, 
Benedict cardinal archdeacon, John deacon, Bonofilius 
chief cardinal deacon, George second cardinal deacon, 
Stephen assistant, Andrew treasurer, Sergius chief 
warden, John sacriStan, Stephen, Theophyladt, Adrian, 
Stephen, Benedict, Azo, Adrian, Romanus, Leo, 
Benedict, Leo, Leo, Leo notaries, Leo chief of the 
school of singers, Benedidl subdeacon in charge of the 
offertories, Azo, Benedict, Demetrius, John, Amicus, 
Sergius, Benedict, Urgo, John, Benedict subdeacon 
and steward, Stephen arch-acolyte with all the acolytes 
and diStri& deacons. Representing the princes of 
Rome were Stephen son of John, Demetrius Meliosi, 
Crescenti de Caballo Marmoreo, John Mizina, Stephen 
de Imiza, Theodore de Rufina, John de Primicerio, 
Leo de Cazunuli, Rihkard, Pietro de Canapanaria, and 
Benedict with his son Bulgamin. The commoner 
Peter, also called Imperiola, together with the whole 
body of Roman soldiery was in attendance. 

Ch. X. When all had taken their seats and complete 
silence was established, the holy emperor began thus : 
“ How fitting it would have been for the lord pope 
John to be present at this glorious holy synod. I ask 
you, holy fathers, to give your opinion why he has 
refused to attend this great gathering, for you live 
as he does and share in all his interests Thereupon 
the Roman bishops and the cardinal prieSts and deacons 
together with the whole populace said : — “ We are 
surprised that your moSt holy wisdom deigns to ask 
us this question : even the inhabitants of Iberia and 
Babylonia and India know the answer to it. John 

222 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

is not now even one of those who come in sheep’s 
clothing and within are ravening wolves : his savageness 
is manifest, he is openly engaged in the devil’s business, 
and he makes no attempt at disguise The emperor 
replied : — “ It seems to us right that the charges 
against the pope should be brought forward seriatim, 
and that the whole synod should then consider what 
course we should adopt Thereupon the cardinal 
priest Peter got up and testified that he had seen the 
pope celebrate mass without himself communicating. 
John bishop of Narni and John cardinal deacon then 
declared that they had seen the pope ordain a deacon 
in a stable and at an improper season. Benedict 
cardinal deacon with his fellow deacons and prieSts 
said that they knew the pope had been paid for ordain- 
ing bishops and that in the city of Todi he had ap- 
pointed a bishop for ten years. On the question 
of his sacrilege, they said, no inquiries were necessary ; 
knowledge of it was a matter of eyesight not of hearsay. 
As regards his adultery, though they had no visual 
information, they knew for certain that he had carnal 
acquaintance with Rainer’s widow, Stephana his 
father’s concubine, the widow Anna, and his own niece, 
and that he had turned the holy palace into a brothel 
and resort for harlots. He had gone hunting publicly : 
he had blinded his spiritual father Benedidt who died 
of his injuries : he had caused the death of cardinal 
subdeacon John by castrating him : he had set houses 
on fire and appeared in public equipped with sword, 
helmet and cuirass. To all this they testified ; while 
everyone, clergy and laity alike, loudly accused him 
of drinking wine for love of the devil. At dice, they 
said, he asked the aid of Jupiter, Venus, and the other 
demons ; he did not celebrate matins nor observe 
the canonical hours nor fortify himself with the sign 
of the cross. 


222 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

Ch. XL When he had heard this, as the Romans 
could not underhand his native Saxon tongue, the 
emperor bade Liudprand bishop of Cremona to 
deliver the following speech in the Latin language to 
all the Romans. Accordingly he got up and began 
thus : “ It often happens, and we know it by experience 
that men set in high positions are besmirched by the 
foul tongue of envy : the good displease the bad, even 
as the bad displease the good. For this reason we 
Hill regard as doubtful the charge againft the pope 
which the cardinal deacon Benedict read out and 
communicated to you, and we are uncertain whether 
it originated from zeal for righteousness or from 
impious envy. Therefore, unworthy as I am, by the 
authority of the position that has been granted me I 
call upon you all by the Lord God, whom no one, 
even if he wishes, can deceive, and by his holy mother 
the pure virgin Mary, and by the mosl precious body 
of the chief of the apoHles, in whose church this is 
now being read, caH no foul words againft the lord 
pope nor accuse him of anything that he has not really 
done and that has not been witnessed by men on whom 
we can rely”. Thereupon the bishops, the prieHs, 
the deacons, the reH of the clergy, and the whole 
Roman people cried out as one man : — “ If Pope John 
has not committed all the shameful crimes that the 
deacon Benedict read out to us and done things even 
worse and more disguHing than those, may the moH 
blessed Peter, whose verdidt closes the gates of heaven 
againH the unworthy and opens them for the righteous, 
never free us from the chains of our sins : may we 
be held faH in the bonds of anathema and at the laH 
day be set on the left hand with those who said to the 
Lord God 1 : * Depart from us, we would have no 
knowledge of thy ways \ If you do not give us 

1 Job xxi. 14. 


224 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

credence, at leaft you ought to believe the army of our 
lord the emperor, against whom the pope advanced 
five days ago, equipped with sword, shield, helmet 
and cuirass. It was only the intervening waters of 
the Tiber that saved him from being taken prisoner 
in that garb Then the holy emperor said : — 
“ There are as many witnesses to that as there are 
fighting men in our army So the holy synod 
pronounced : “ If it please the holy emperor, let a 
letter be sent to the lord pope, that he come here 
and purge himself from all these charges There- 
upon a letter was sent to him as follows : — 

Ch. XII. “ To the supreme pontiff and universal 
pope lord John, Otto, august emperor by the grace 
of God, together with the archbishops and bishops 
of Liguria, Tuscany, Saxony and France, sends 
greeting in the name of the Lord. When we came 
to Rome in God’s service and inquired of your sons, 
the Roman bishops, cardinal priests and deacons, and 
the whole body of the people besides, concerning your 
absence, and asked them what was the reason that you 
were unwilling to see us, the defenders of your church 
and your person, they brought out such foul and 
filthy tales about you that we should be ashamed of 
them, even if they were told about adtors. That 
your highness may not remain in complete ignorance 
we set down some of them briefly here ; for though 
we would fain give them all seriatim, one day is not 
enough. Know then that you are charged, not by 
a few men but by all the clergy and laity alike, of 
homicide, perjury, sacrilege and of the sin of un- 
chaftity with your own kinswoman and with two 
sifters. They tell me too something that makes me 
shudder, that you have drunk wine for love of the 
devil, and that in dice you have asked the help of 
Jupiter, Venus and the other demons. Therefore we 

225 


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Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

earnestly beg your paternal highness not to refuse 
under any pretence to come to Rome and clear yourself 
of all these charges. If perchance you fear the violence 
of a rash multitude, we declare under oath that no 
aftion is contemplated contrary to the sanction of the 
holy canons.” 

Ch. XIII. After reading this letter, the pope sent 
the following reply : “ Bishop John, servant of God’s 
servants, to all the bishops. We hear say that you 
wish to make another pope. If you do, I excom- 
municate you by Almighty God, and you have no 
power, to ordain no one or celebrate mass ”. 

Ch. XIV. When this answer was read in the holy 
synod, the following clergy, who had been absent at 
the previous meeting, were present : from Lorraine, 
Henry Archbishop of Treves ; from Aemilia and 
Liguria, Wido of Modena, Gezo of Tortona, Sigulf of 
Piacenza. The synod returned the following reply to 
the lord pope : — “ To the supreme pontiff and univer- 
sal pope lord John, Otto, auguft emperor by the grace 
of God, and the holy synod assembled at Rome in 
God’s service, send greeting in the Lord’s name. 
At our laft meeting of the sixth of November we sent 
you a letter containing the charges made against 
you by your accusers and their reasons for bringing 
them. In the same letter we asked your highness to 
come to Rome, as is only juft, and to clear yourself 
from these allegations. We have now received your 
answer, which is not at all of a kind suited to the 
character of this occasion but is more in accordance 
with the folly of rank indifference. There could be no 
reasonable excuse for not coming to the synod. But 
messengers from your highness ought certainly to 
have put in an appearance here, and assured us that 
you could not attend the holy synod owing to 
illness or some such insuperable difficulty. There is 

226 



Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

furthermore a sentence in your letter more fitting for a 
ftupid boy than a bishop. You excommunicated us 
all if we appointed another bishop to the see of Rome, 
and yet gave us power to celebrate the mass and 
ordain clerical functionaries. You said : — ‘ You have 
no power to ordain no one ’. We always thought, or 
rather believed, that two negatives make an affirmative, 
if your authority did not weaken the verdiCt of the 
authors of old. However, let us reply, not to your 
words, but to your meaning. If you do not refuse 
to come to the synod and to clear yourself of these 
charges, we certainly are prepared to bow to your 
authority. But if — which Heaven forbid ! — under any 
pretence you refrain from coming and defending 
yourself against a capital charge, especially when 
there is nothing to flop you, neither a sea voyage, nor 
bodily sickness, nor a long journey, then we shall 
disregard your excommunication, and rather turn it 
upon yourself, as we have juftly the power to do. 
Judas, who betrayed, or rather who sold, Our Lord 
Jesus ChriCfc, with the other disciples received the 
power of binding and loosing from their Master in 
these words 1 : — * Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye 
shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven : and 
whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in 
heaven ’. As long as Judas was a good man with his 
fellow disciples, he had the power to bind and loose. 
But when he became a murderer for greed and wished 
to destroy all men’s lives, whom then could he loose 
that was bound or bind that was loosed save himself, 
whom he hanged in the accursed noose ? ” This 
letter was written on the twenty-second day of 
November and sent by the hand of the cardinal prieCt 
Adrian and the cardinal deacon Benedict. 


1 I St Matthew, xviii, 18. 


22 7 



Chronicle or Otto’s Reign 

Ch . XV. When these latter arrived at Tivoli, they 
could not find the pope : he had gone off into the 
country with bow and arrows, and no one could tell 
them where he was. Not being able to find him they 
returned with the letter to Rome and. the holy synod 
met for the third time. On this occasion the emperor 
said : “ We have waited for the pope’s appearance, 
that we might complain of his conduct towards us in 
his presence : but since we are now assured that he 
will not attend, we beg you earnestly to listen to an 
account of his treacherous behaviour. We hereby 
inform you, archbishops, bishops, prieSts, deacons, 
clerics, counts, judges and people, that Pope John 
being hard pressed by Berengar and Adalbert, our 
revolted subjects, sent messengers to us in Saxony, 
asking us for the love of God to come to Italy and free 
him and the church of St Peter from. their jaws. We 
need not tell you how much we did for him with 
God’s assistance : you see it to-day for yourselves. 
But when by my help he was rescued from their hands 
and restored to his proper place, forgetful of the oath 
of loyalty which he swore to me on the body of St 
Peter, he got Adalbert to come to Rome, defended 
him againSt me, Stirred up tumults, and before my 
soldiers’ eyes appeared as leader in the campaign 
equipped with helmet and cuirass. Let the holy 
synod now declare its decision”. Thereupon the 
Roman pontiffs and the other clergy and all the 
people replied : “ A mischief for which there is no 
precedent muSt be cauterized by methods equally 
novel. If the pope’s moral corruption only hurt 
himself and not others, we should have to bear with 
him as beSt we could. But how many chaSte youths 
by his example have become unchaSte ? How many 
worthy men by association with him have become 
reprobates ? We therefore ask your imperial majeSty 

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Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

that this monster, whom no virtue redeems from vice, 
shall be driven from the holy Roman church, and 
another be appointed in his place, who by the example 
of his goodly conversation may prove himself both ruler 
and benefactor, living rightly himself and setting us 
an example of like condudt Then the emperor 
said : “ I agree with what you say ; nothing will 
please me more than for you to find such a man and 
to give him control of this holy universal see 

Ch. XVI. At that all cried with one voice : — “ We 
eleCt as our shepherd Leo, the venerable chief notary 
of the holy Roman church, a man of proved worth 
deserving of the highest sacerdotal rank. He shall 
be the supreme and universal pope of the holy Roman 
church, and we hereby reprobate the apoftate John 
because of his vicious life The whole assembly 
repeated these words three times, and then with the 
emperor’s consent escorted the aforesaid Leo to the 
Lateran Palace amid acclamations, and later at the 
due season in the church of St Peter elevated him to 
the supreme priesthood by holy consecration and took 
the oath of loyalty towards him. 

Ch. XVII. When this had been arranged the moft 
holy emperor, hoping that he could Stay at Rome with 
a few men and not wishing the Roman people to be 
burdened with a great army, gave many of his soldiers 
leave to return home. John, the so-called pope, 
hearing of this and knowing how easily the Romans 
could be bribed, sent messengers to the city, promising 
the people all the wealth of St Peter and the churches, 
if they would fall upon the pious emperor and the 
lord pope Leo and impiously murder them. Why 
make a long tale ? The Romans encouraged, or 
rather ensnared by the fewness of the emperor’s 
troops and animated by the promised reward, at once 
sounded their trumpets and rushed in hot haffce upon 

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Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

the emperor to kill him. He met them on the bridge 
over the Tiber, which the Romans had barricaded 
with waggons. His gallant warriors, well trained in 
battle with fearless hearts and fearless swords, leaped 
forward among the foe, like hawks falling on a flock 
of birds, and drove them off in panic without resistance. 
No hiding place, neither basket nor hollow tree trunk 
nor filthy sewer, could prated them in their flight. 
Down they fell, and as usually happens with such 
gallant heroes, mod of their wounds were in the 
back. Who of the Romans then would have 
escaped from the massacre, had not the holy emperor 
yielded to the pity, which they did not deserve, 
and called off his men dill thirding for the enemies’ 
blood. 

Ch. XVIII. After they were all vanquished and the 
survivors had given hodages, the venerable pope Leo 
fell at the emperor’s feet and begged him to give the 
hodages back and rely on the people’s loyalty. At the 
requed of the venerable pope Leo the holy emperor 
gave back the hodages, although he knew that the 
Romans would soon dart the trouble I am about to 
relate. He also commended the pope to the Romans’ 
loyalty, a lamb entruded to wolves ; and leaving Rome 
hadened towards Camerino and Spoleto where he had 
heard that Adalbert was to be found. 

Ch. XIX. Meanwhile the women, with whom the 
so-called pope John was accudomed to carry on his 
voluptuous sports, being many in numbers and noble 
in rank, dirred up the Romans to overthrow Leo, 
whom God and they themselves had chosen as supreme 
and universal pope, and bring John back again into 
Rome. This they did ; but by the mercy of God the 
venerable pope Leo escaped from their clutches and 
with a few attendants made his way to the protection 
of the mod pious emperor Otto. 

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Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

Ch. XX. The holy emperor was bitterly grieved 
at this insult, and to avenge the expulsion of the lord 
pope Leo and the foul injuries done by the deposed 
John to the cardinal deacon John and the notary Azo, 
one of whom had his right hand cut off, and the other 
his tongue, two fingers and his nose, he got his army 
together again and prepared to return to Rome. But 
before the holy emperor’s forces were all assembled, 
the Lord decreed that every age should know how 
justly Pope John had been repudiated by his bishops 
and all the people, and how unjuslly afterwards he had 
been welcomed back. One night when John was 
disporting himself with some man’s wife outside 
Rome, the devil dealt him such a violent blow on the 
temples that he died of the injury within a week. 
Moreover at the prompting of the devil, who had 
struck the blow, he refused the lash sacraments, as I 
have frequently heard testified by his friends and 
kinsmen who were at his death bed. 

Ch. XXI. At his death the Romans, forgetful of 
the oath they had taken to the holy emperor, elefted 
Benedict cardinal deacon as pope, swearing moreover 
that they would never abandon him but would defend 
him against the emperor’s might. Thereupon the 
emperor invented the city closely and allowed no one 
to get out with a whole skin. Siege engines and 
famine completed the work, and finally in spite of the 
Romans he got possession of the city again, restored 
the venerable Leo to his proper place, and bade 
Benedict the usurper to appear before him. 

Ch. XXII. Accordingly the supreme and universal 
pope the lord Leo took his seat in the church of the 
Lateran and with him the mo£fc holy emperor Otto, 
together with the Roman and Italian bishops, the 
archbishops of Lorraine and Saxony, the bishops, 
priests, deacons and the whole Roman people whose 

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Chronicle of Otto’s Reign 

names will be given later. Before them appeared. 
Benedict, the usurper of the apostolic chair, brought 
in by the men who had elected him and ftill wearing 
the pontifical vestments. To him the cardinal arch- 
deacon Benedict addressed the following charge : “ By 
what authority or by what law, O usurper, are you 
now wearing this pontifical raiment, seeing that our 
lord the venerable pope Leo is alive and here present, 
whom you and we elected to the supreme apoftolic 
office when John had been accused and disowned ? 
Can you deny that you swore to our lord the emperor 
here present that you and the other Romans would 
never eledt nor ordain a pope without the consent of 
the emperor and his son King Otto ? ” Benedict 
replied : — “ Have mercy upon my sin Then the 
emperor, revealing by his tears how inclined he was to 
mercy, asked the synod not to pass ha£ty judgment 
upon Benedict. If he wished and could, let him 
answer the questions and defend his case : if he had 
neither the wish nor the power but confessed his 
guilt, then let him for the fear of God have some mercy 
shown to him. Thereupon Benedict flung himself in 
ha£fce at the feet of the lord pope Leo and the emperor, 
and cried out : “I have sinned in usurping the holy 
Roman see He then handed over the papal cloak 
and gave the papal Staff which he was holding to pope 
Leo, who broke it in pieces and showed it to thepeople. 
Next the pope bade Benedict to sit down on the 
ground and took from him his chasuble and ftole. 
Finally he said to all the bishops : “ We hereby 

deprive Benedict, usurper of the holy Roman apoftolic 
chair, of all pontifical and priestly office : but by 
reason of the clemency of the lord emperor Otto, by 
whose help we have been restored to our proper place, 
we allow him to keep the rank of deacon, not at Rome 
but in exile, which we now adjudge against him 

232 



DE LEGATIONE CONSTANTINOPOLITANA 
The Embassy to Constantinople 




THE EMBASSY TO CONSTANTINOPLE 


That the Ottos, the invincible auguft emperors of the Romans and 
the moft noble Adelaide the auguft empress, may always flourish, 
prosper and triumph, is the earneft wish, desire and prayer of Liudprand 
bishop of the holy church of Cremona. 

Ch. I. What was the reason that you did not 
receive my previous letters or messengers the following 
account will explain. On the fourth of June we 
arrived at Constantinople, and after a miserable 
reception, meant as an insult to yourselves, we were 
given the moSt miserable and disgusting quarters. The 
palace where we were confined was certainly large and 
open, but it neither kept out the cold nor afforded 
shelter from the heat. Armed soldiers were set to 
guard us and prevent my people from going out, and 
any others from coming in. This dwelling, only 
accessible to us who were shut inside it, was so far 
distant from the emperor’s residence that we were 
quite out of breath when we walked there — we did 
not ride. To add to our troubles, the Greek wine we 
found undrinkable because of the mixture in it of 
pitch, resin and plaSter. The house itself had no 
water and we could not even buy any to quench our 
thirSt. All this was a serious “ Oh dear me ! ”, but 
there was another “ Oh dear me ” even worse, and 
that was our warden, the man who provided us with 
our daily wants. If you were to seek another like him, 
you certainly would not find him on earth ; you might 
perhaps in hell. Like a raging torrent he poured 
upon us every calamity, every extortion, every expense, 

235 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

every grief and every misery that he could invent. In 
our hundred and twenty days not one passed without 
bringing to us groaning and lamentation. 

Ch. II. On the fourth of June, as I said above, we 
arrived at Constantinople and waited with our horses 
in heavy rain outside the Carian gate until five o’clock 
in the afternoon. At five o’clock Nicephorus ordered 
us to be admitted on foot, for he did not think us 
worthy to use the horses with which your clemency 
had provided us, and we were escorted to the afore- 
said hateful, waterless, draughty Stone house. On the 
sixth of June, which was the Saturday before PentecoSt, 
I was brought before the emperor’s brother Leo, 
marshal of the court and chancellor ; and there we 
tired ourselves with a fierce argument over your 
imperial title. He called you not emperor, which is 
Basileus in his tongue, but insultingly Rex, which is 
king in ours. I told him that the thing meant was 
the same though the word was different, and he then 
said that I had come not to make peace but to Stir 
up Strife. Finally he got up in a rage, and really 
wishing to insult us received your letter not in his 
own hand but through an interpreter. He is a man 
commanding enough in person but feigning humility : 
whereon if a man lean it will pierce his hand. 

Ch. III. On the seventh of June, the sacred day of 
PentecoSt, I was brought before Nicephorus himself in 
the palace called Stephana, that is, the Crown Palace. 
He is a monStrosity of a man, a dwarf, fat-headed and 
with tiny mole’s eyes ; disfigured by a short, broad, 
thick beard half going gray ; disgraced by a neck 
scarcely an inch long ; piglike by reason of the big 
close briStles on his head ; in colour an Ethiopian and, 
as the poet says, 1 “ you would not like to meet him 
in the dark ” ; a big belly, a lean posterior, very long 

1 Juvenal, V, 54. 


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The Embassy to Constantinople 

in the hip considering his short Mature, small legs, 
fair sized heels and feet ; dressed in a robe made of 
fine linen, but old, foul smelling, and discoloured by 
age ; shod with Sicyonian slippers ; bold of tongue, 
a fox by nature, in perjury and falsehood a Ulysses. 
My lords and augush emperors, you always seemed 
comely to me ; but how much more comely now ! 
Always magnificent ; how much more magnificent 
now ! Always mighty ; how much more mighty now ! 
Always clement ; how much more clement now ! 
Always full of virtues ; how much fuller now ! At 
his left, not on a line with him, but much lower down, 
sat the two child emperors, once his masters, now his 
subjects. He began his speech as follows : — 

CL IV. It was our duty and our desire to give you 
a courteous and magnificent reception. That, how- 
ever, has been rendered impossible by the impiety of 
your maSter, who in the guise of an hostile invader has 
laid claim to Rome ; has robbed Berengar and Adalbert 
of their kingdom contrary to law and right ; has slain 
some of the Romans by the sword, some by hanging, 
while others he has either blinded or sent into exile ; 
and furthermore has tried to subdue to himself by 
massacre and conflagration cities belonging to our 
empire. His wicked attempts have proved unsuccess- 
ful, and so he has sent you, the instigator and furtherer 
of this villainy, under pretence of peace to adt comme un 
espion , that is, as a spy upon us. 

Ch. V. To him I made this reply : “ My master 
did not invade the city of Rome by force nor as a 
tyrant ; he freed her from a tyrant’s yoke, or rather 
from the yoke of many tyrants. Was she not ruled 
by effeminate debauchers, and what is even worse and 
more shameful, by harlots ? Your power, methinks, 
was faSt asleep then ; and the power of your pre- 
decessors, who in name alone are called emperors of 

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the Romans, while the reality is far different. If they 
were powerful, if they were emperors of the Romans, 
why did they allow Rome to be in the hands of harlots ? 
Were not some of the holy popes banished, others so 
distressed that they could not procure their daily 
supplies nor money wherewith to give alms ? Did 
not Adalbert send insulting letters to your predecessors, 
the emperors Romanos and Constantine ? Did he not 
rob and plunder the churches of the holy apoStles ? 
Who of you emperors, led by zeal for God, troubled 
to punish so heinous a crime and bring back the holy 
church to its proper State ? You neglefted it, my 
maSter did not. From the ends of the world he rose, 
and came to Rome, and drove out the ungodly, and 
gave back to the vicars of the holy apoStles all their 
power and honour. Those who afterwards rose 
againSt him and the lord pope, as being violators of 
their oath, sacrilegious robbers and torturers of their 
lords the popes, in accordance with the decrees of 
such Roman emperors as JuStinian, Valentinian, 
Theodosius etc., he slew, beheaded, hanged, or exiled. 
If he had not done so, he himself would be an impious, 
unjuSt, cruel tyrant. It is a known fadt that Berengar 
and Adalbert became his vassals and received the 
kingdom of Italy with a golden sceptre from his hand 
and that they promised fealty under oath in the 
presence of your servants, men Still alive and now 
dwelling in this city. At the devil’s prompting they 
perfidiously broke their word, and therefore he juStly 
took their kingdom from them, as being deserters and 
rebels. You yourself would have done the same to 
men who had sworn fealty and then revolted against 
you 

Ch. VI. “ But ”, said he, “ there is one of Adalbert’s 
vassals here, and he does not acknowledge the truth of 
this.” “ If he denies it ”, I replied, “ one of my men, 

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The Embassy to Constantinople 

at your command, will prove to him to-morrow in 
single combat that it is so.” “ Well,” said he, “ he 
may, as you declare, have adted justly in this. Explain 
now why he attacked the borders of our empire with 
war and conflagration. We were friends and were 
thinking by marriage to enter into a partnership that 
would never be broken.” 

Ch. VII. “ The land ”, I answered, “ which you 
say belongs to your empire, is proved by race and 
language to be part of the kingdom of Italy. The 
Lombards held it in their power, and Louis, emperor 
of the Lombards or Franks, freed it from the grip of 
the Saracens with great slaughter. For seven years 
also Landulf, prince of Benevento and Capua, held 
it under his control. Nor would it even now have 
passed from the yoke of slavery to him and his descen- 
dants, had not your emperor Romanos bought at a 
great price the friendship of our King Hugh. It was 
for this reason also that he made a match between 
King Hugh’s baftard daughter and his own nephew 
and namesake. I see now that you think it shows 
weakness in my master, not generosity, when after 
winning Italy and Rome he for so many years left 
them to you. The friendly partnership, which you 
say you wished to form by a marriage, we hold to be 
a fraud and a snare : you ask for a truce, but you have 
no real reason to want it nor we to grant it. Come, 
let us clear away all trickeries and speak the plain 
truth. My master has sent me to you to see if you 
will give the daughter of the emperor Romanos and 
the empress Theophano to his son, my master the 
auguft emperor Otto. If you give me your oath that 
the marriage shall take place, I am to affirm to you 
under oath that my master in grateful return will 
observe to do this and this for you. Moreover he has 
already given you, his brother ruler, the be£t pledge 

239 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

of friendship by handing over Apulia, which was 
subject to his rule. I, to whose suggestion you declare 
this mischief was due, intervened in this matter, and 
there are as many witnesses to this as there are people 
in Apulia.” 

Ch. Fill. “ It is paSt seven o’clock,” said Nicephorus 
“ and there is a church procession which I muSt 
attend. Let us keep to the business before us. We 
will give you a reply at some convenient season.” 

Ch. IX. I think that I shall have as much pleasure 
in describing this procession as my masters will have 
in reading of it. A numerous company of tradesmen 
and low-born persons, collected on this solemn occasion 
to welcome and honour Nicephorus, lined the sides 
of the road, like walls, from the palace to Saint Sophia, 
tricked out with thin little shields and cheap spears. 
As an additional scandal, moSt of the mob assembled 
in his honour had marched there with bare feet, 
thinking, I suppose, that thus they would better adorn 
the sacred procession. His nobles for their part, who 
with their master passed through the plebeian and 
barefoot multitude, were dressed in tunics that were 
too large for them and were also because of their 
extreme age full of holes. They would have looked 
better if they had worn their ordinary clothes. There 
was not a man among them whose grandfather had 
owned his tunic when it was new. No one except 
Nicephorus wore any jewels or golden ornaments, and 
the emperor looked more disgusting than ever in the 
regalia that had been designed to suit the persons of 
his ancestors. By your life, sires, dearer to me than 
my own, one of your nobles’ coStly robes is worth a 
hundred or more of these. I was taken to the proces- 
sion and given a place on a platform near the singers. 

Ch. X. As Nicephorus, like some crawling monSter, 
walked along, the singers began to cry out in adulation ; 

240 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

“ Behold the morning Star approaches : the day Star 
rises : in his eyes the sun’s rays are reflected : Nice- 
phorus our prince, the pale death of the Saracens ”. 
And then they cried again : “ Long life, long life to 
our prince Nicephorus. Adore him, ye nations, 
worship him, bow the neck to his greatness How 
much more truly might they have sung : — ■“ Come, 
you miserable burnt-out coal ; old woman in your 
walk, wood-devil in your look ; clodhopper, haunter 
of byres, goat-footed, horned, double-limbed ; briStly, 
wild, rough, barbarian, harsh, hairy, a rebel, a Cappa- 
docian ! So, puffed up by these lying ditties, he 
entered St Sophia, his masters the emperors following 
at a distance and doing him homage on the ground 
with the kiss of peace. His armour bearer, with an 
arrow for pen, recorded in the church the era in 
progress since the beginning of his reign. So those 
who did not see the ceremony know what era it is. 

Ch. XI. On this same day he ordered me to be his 
gueSt. But as he did not think me worthy to be 
placed above any of his nobles, I sat fifteenth from 
him and without a table cloth. Not only did no one 
of my suite sit at table with me ; they did not even 
set eyes upon the house where I was entertained. 
At the dinner, which was fairly foul and disgusting, 
washed down with oil after the fashion of drunkards 
and moistened also with an exceedingly bad fish 
liquor, the emperor asked me many questions con- 
cerning your power, your dominions and your army. 
My answers were sober and truthful ; but he shouted 
out : — “ You lie. Your maSter’s soldiers cannot ride 
and they do not know how to fight on foot. The 
size of their shields, the weight of their cuirasses, the 
length of their swords, and the heaviness of their 
helmets, does not allow them to fight either way”. 
Then with a smile he added : “ Their gluttony also 

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x« 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

prevents them. Their God is their belly, their 
courage but wind, their bravery drunkenness. Falling 
for them means dissolution, sobriety, panic. Nor has 
your mailer any force of ships on the sea. I alone 
have really Hout sailors, and I will attack him with my 
fleets, dellroy his maritime cities and reduce to ashes 
those which have a river near them. Tell me, how 
with his small forces will he be able to resill me even 
on land ? His son was there : his wife was there : 
his Saxons, Swabians, Bavarians and Italians were all 
there with him : and yet they had not the skill nor 
the Hrength to take one little city that resilled them. 
How then will they resiH me when I come followed by 
as many forces as there are 1 

Corn fields on Gargarus, grapes on Lesbian vine, 

Waves in the ocean, ftars in heaven that shine ? ” 

Ch. XU. I wanted to answer and make such a 
speech in our defence as his boalling deserved ; but 
he would not let me and added this final insult : 
<£ You are not Romans but Lombards ”. He even 
then was anxious to say more and waved his hand to 
secure my silence, but I was worked up and cried : 
“ Hillory tells us that Romulus, from whom the 
Romans get their name, was a fratricide born in 
adultery. He made a place of refuge for himself and 
received into it insolvent debtors, runaway slaves, 
murderers and men who deserved death for their 
crimes. This was the sort of crowd whom he enrolled 
as citizens and gave them the name of Romans. From 
this nobility are descended those men whom you 
Hyle ‘ rulers of the world ’. But we Lombards, 
Saxons, Franks, Lotharingians, Bavarians, Swabians and 
Burgundians, so despise these fellows that when we 
are angry with an enemy we can find nothing more 

1 Ovid, An Amatoria, X, 57. 


242 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

insulting to say than — ‘ You Roman ! ’ For us in the 
word Roman is comprehended every form of lowness, 
timidity, avarice, luxury, falsehood and vice. You 
say that we are unwarlike and know nothing of horse- 
manship. Well, if the sins of the Christians merit 
that you keep this Stiff neck, the next war will prove 
what manner of men you are, and how warlike we ”. 

Ch. XIII. Nicephorus, exasperated by these words, 
commanded the long narrow table to be removed and 
then calling for silence with his hand ordered me to 
return to my hateful abode, or, to speak more truly, 
to my prison. There two days later, as a result of 
my indignation as well as of heat and thirSt, I fell 
seriously ill. Indeed there was not one of my com- 
panions who, having drunk from the same cup with 
me, did not fear that his laft day was approaching. 
Why, I ask, should they not sicken ? Their drink 
instead of good wine was brackish water; their bed 
was not hay, Straw, or even earth, but hard marble ; 
their pillow was a Stone ; their draughty house kept 
out neither heat nor rain nor cold. Salvation herself, 
to use a common expression, if she had poured all 
her favours on them, could not have saved them. 
Weakened therefore by my own tribulations and those 
of my companions I called in our warden, or rather my 
persecutor, and by prayers and bribes induced him 
to take the following letter to the emperor’s brother : 

Ch. XIV. “ Bishop Liudprand to Leo, chancellor 
and marshal of the palace. If his serene highness the 
emperor intends to grant the requeSt for which I 
came, then the sufferings I am now enduring shall 
not exhauft my patience : my master however muft 
be i n formed by letter and messenger that my ftay 
here is not useless. On the other hand, if a refusal 
is contemplated, there is a Venetian merchantman 
in harbour here juft about to ftart. Let him permit 

243 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

me as a sick man to go on board, so that, if the time 
of my dissolution be at hand, my native land may 
at leaSl receive my corpse.” 

Cb. XV. Leo read my letter and gave me an 
audience four days later. In accordance with their 
rule their wiselb men, Strong in Attic eloquence, sat 
with him to discuss your request, namely, Basil the 
chief chamberlain, the chief secretary, the chief marker 
of the wardrobe, and two other dignitaries. They 
began their discourse as follows : “ Tell us, brother, 
the reason that induced you to take the trouble to 
come here ”. When I told them that it was on 
account of the marriage which was to be the ground 
for a lasting peace, they said : — “ It is unheard of 
that a daughter born in the purple of an emperor 
born in the purple should contra# a foreign marriage. 
Still, great as is your demand, you shall have what you 
want if you give what is proper : Ravenna, namely, 
and Rome with all the adjoining territories from 
thence to our possessions. If you desire friendship 
without the marriage, let your marker permit Rome 
to be free, and hand over to their former lord the 
princes of Capua and Benevento, who were formerly 
slaves of our holy empire and are now rebels ”. 

Cb. XVI. To this I answered : — “ Even you cannot 
but know that my master rules over Slavonian princes 
who are far more powerful than Peter king of the 
Bulgarians who has married the daughter of the 
emperor Christopher ”. “ Ah,” said they, “ but 

Christopher was not born in the purple.” 

Cb. XVII. “ As for Rome,” I went on, “ for whose 
freedom you are so noisily eager ; who is her maSter ? 
To whom does she pay tribute ? Was she not formerly 
enslaved to harlots ? And while you were sleeping, 
nay powerless, did not my maSter the auguSt emperor 
free her from that foul servitude ? ConStantine, the 

244 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

auguft emperor who founded this city and called it 
after his name, as being ruler of the world made many 
offerings to the holy Roman apotolic church, not 
only in Italy, but in almot all the wetern kingdoms 
as well as those in the eat and south, in Greece, 
Judaea, Persia, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, Egypt, Libya, 
as his own special regulations tetify, preserved in 
our country. In Italy, in Saxony, in Bavaria, and in 
all my master’s realms, everything that belongs to 
the church of the blessed apotles has been handed 
over to those holy apostles’ vicar. And if my master 
has kept back a single city, farm, vassal or slave, then 
I have denied God. Why does not your emperor do 
the same ? Why does he not restore to the apotolic 
church what lies in his kingdoms and thereby himself 
increase the richness and freedom which it already 
owes to my master’s exertions and generosity ? 

Ch. XVIII. “ He will do so ”, said the chief 
chamberlain Basil, “ when Rome and the Roman 
church shall be so ordered as he wishes.” Then said 
I: — “A certain man having suffered much injury 
from another, approached God with these words : — 
‘ Lord, avenge me upon my adversary ’. To whom 
the Lord said : ‘ I will do so on the day when I shall 
render to each man according to his works ’. ‘ How 

late that day will be ! ’ the man replied ”. 

Ch. XIX. At that everyone except the emperor’s 
brother burst into laughter. Then they broke off 
the discussion and ordered me to be taken back to my 
detestable dwelling place and to be carefully guarded 
until the day of the holy apotles, a feat which all 
religious persons duly observe. At the ceremony the 
emperor commanded me, though I was very ill at 
the time, together with the Bulgarian envoys who had 
arrived the day before, to meet him at the church of 
the holy apotles. After some verbose chants had been 

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sung and the mass celebrated, we were invited to 
table, where I found placed above me on my side of 
the long narrow board the Bulgarian envoy. He was 
a fellow with his hair cut in Hungarian fashion, girt 
about with a brazen chain, and, as I fancy, juft 
admitted into the Christian faith : the preference 
given to him over me was plainly meant as an insult 
to you, my auguft masters. On your account I was 
despised, rejected and scorned. I thank the Lord 
Jesus Chriffc, whom you serve with all your heart, that 
I have been considered worthy to suffer insults for 
your sake. However, my masters, I considered that 
the insult was done to you, not to me, and I therefore 
left the table. I was juft going indignantly away 
when Leo, the emperor’s brother, marshal of the 
court, and Simeon the chief secretary came after me, 
howling : “ When Peter king of the Bulgarians 

married Chriftopher’s daughter, a mutual agreement 
was sworn to on both sides, to the effedt that envoys 
of the Bulgarians should with us be preferred, honoured 
and efteemed above the envoys of all other nations. 
What you say is true : the Bulgarian envoy over there 
has his hair cut short, he has not washed himself, and 
his girdle consifts of a brass chain. But nevertheless he 
is a patrician and we are definitely of opinion that it 
would be wrong to give a bishop, especially a Frankish 
bishop, the preference over him. We have noticed 
your show of indignation and we are not going to allow 
you to return to your lodgings, as you suppose ; we 
shall force you to take food with the emperor’s servants 
in an inn. 

Ch. XX. My mental anguish was so unparalleled 
that I could not answer them back but did what they 
ordered, judging that table no fit place for me, seeing 
that there a Bulgarian envoy was preferred, I will not 
say to myself personally, that is, to Bishop Liudprand, 

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but to your representative. But my indignation was 
appeased by a handsome present ! The sacred 
emperor sent me one of his mod delicate dishes, a fat 
goat, of which he himself had partaken, richly buffed 
with garlic onion and leeks, and swimming in fish 
sauce. I wish, sires, that you could have had it on 
your table. The sight of it, I am sure, would have 
banished any incredulity you have felt concerning the 
sacred emperor’s luxurious ways. 

Ch. XXI. When eight days had passed and the 
Bulgarians had left the city, Nicephorus, thinking that 
I esteemed his table highly, compelled me in spite of 
my ill health to dine with him again in the same place. 
The patriarch with several other bishops was present, 
and before them he propounded to me many questions 
concerning the Holy Scriptures, which, under the 
inspiration of the sacred spirit, I elegantly answered. 
Finally, wishing to make merry over you, he asked 
what synods we recognized. Those of Nicaea, 
Chalcedon, Ephesus, Carthage, Antioch, Ancyra, and 
Constantinople, I replied. “ Ha, ha,” said he, “ you 
have forgotten to mention Saxony. If you ask me, the 
reason why our books do not mention it either is that 
the Christian faith there is too young to have been 
able to reach us ”. 

Ch. XXII. I answered : “ On that member of the 
body where the malady has its seat a cautery must be 
used. All the heresies have emanated from you and 
among you have flourished ; by our weStern peoples 
they have been either Strangled or killed. Synods have 
often been held at Rome and Pavia, but I do not count 
them here. It was a Roman cleric, he whom you call 
Dialogus, who afterwards became the universal Pope 
Gregory, that freed the heretic Eutychius, patriarch of 
Constantinople, from his error. Eutychius said, and 
not only said but in his teachings, sermons and writings 

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proclaimed, that at the Resurrection we should put on 
not the real flesh that we have here, but a certain 
fantastic substance of his own imagination. . The book 
that set forth this heresy was burned in the interests of 
orthodoxy by Gregory. Moreover, Ennodius, Bishop 
of Pavia, was sent here, that is, to Constantinople, by 
the patriarch of Rome, to deal with a certain other 
heresy, which he repressed and restored the orthodox 
catholic doctrine. As for the Saxon people, since they 
received the holy baptism and the knowledge of God, 
they have not been Stained by any heresy which 
rendered a synod necessary for its correction ; of 
heresies we have had none. You declare that our 
Saxon faith is young, and I agree. Faith in ChriSt is 
always young and not old among people whose faith is 
seconded by works. Here faith is old, not young ; 
works do not accompany it, and by reason of its age 
it is held in light eSteem like a worn-out garment. I 
know for certain of one synod held in Saxony where it 
was enaCted and decreed that it was more seemly to 
fight with the sword than with the pen, and better to 
face death than to fly before a foe. Your own army is 
finding that out now And in my own mind I said : 
“ May it soon find out by experience how warlike our 
men are ”. 

Ch. XXIII. He ordered me that same afternoon to 
attend him on his return to the palace, although I was 
so weak and changed that the women who before when 
they met me used to call out in admiration “ Holy 
Mother ”, now, pitying my misery, beat their breads 
with their hands and cried : “ Oh, the poor sick man ”. 
I hope that what I prayed for him as he approached me 
may happen ; and I hope, sires, that what I prayed for 
you in your absence with hands lifted up to heaven 
may be granted also. Still, he made me laugh heartily ; 

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The Embassy to Constantinople 

and you may well believe it, for though he is such a 
pygmy, he was riding a restless horse without a bridle, 
a very small man on a very big beast. My mind 
pictured to itself one of those dolls which your 
Slavonians tie on to a foal’s back, allowing it then to 
follow its mother unbridled. 

Ch. XXIV. After this I was taken back to the five 
lions 1 who were my fellow-citizens and housemates in 
the aforesaid hateful house, and for the next three weeks 
received no visits nor held any conversation with anyone 
but my companions. I pictured to myself that 
Nicephorus meant never to let me go, and my boundless 
depression so brought on illness after illness that I 
should have died had not the Mother of God by her 
prayers won my life from the Creator and His Son. 
This was shown to me in a true, not an imagined, 
vision. 

Ch. XXV. During these three weeks Nicephorus was 
flaying outside Constantinople at a place called “ The 
Fountains ”, and thither he bade me come. I was so 
ill that even sitting, and much more Standing, was a 
burden ; but he compelled me to Stand before him with 
uncovered head, a thing which was very wrong in my 
weak health. He then said : The envoys of your 
maSter King Otto who were here before you laSt year 
promised me under oath — and the wording of the oath 
is extant — that they would never in any way cause 
scandal in our empire. Do you want a greater scandal 
than that he should call himself emperor and claim for 
himself provinces belonging to our empire ? Both 
these things are intolerable ; and if both are insupport- 
able, that especially is not to be borne, nay, not to be 
heard of, that he calls himself emperor. If you will, 
confirm their undertaking our majeSty will Straightway 
let you go enriched with a full purse ”. This he said, 

1 Cf. Antapodosis , ri, 5. 

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not because he thought that you would keep such an 
engagement, even if I were foolish enough to make it, 
but because he wanted to have in hand something 
which in the future he might bring forward to his own 
glory and our discredit. 

Ch. XXVI. To him I gave this answer : “ My mod 
holy master, a man of wisdom and full of the spirit of 
God, foreseeing this demand and fearing left I might 
transcend the bounds he set for me, gave me written 
instructions which he also signed with his own seal left 
I should contravene them — What I relied on in 
saying this, my auguft mafter, is known to you . — “ Let 
those inftruCtions be produced, and whatever they order 
I will confirm by oath. But as regards anything that 
our former envoys promised, swore or wrote without 
their mafter’s authority, in the words of Plato : ‘ the 
responsibility refts with the chooser, the god is free 
from blame ’ 

Ch. XXVII. When this topic was finished we came 
to the matter of the moft noble princes of Capua and 
Benevento, whom he calls his slaves and is troubled by 
an inward pain on their account. “ Your mafter ”, 
said he, “ has taken my slaves under his protection. If 
he will not let them go and reftore them to their former 
servitude, he will forfeit my friendship. They them- 
selves demand to be taken into our empire again ; but 
our empire refuses their requeft, so that they may 
learn by experience how dangerous it is for slaves to 
skulk away from their mafters and try to escape from 
servitude. It would be more seemly for your mafter 
to hand them over as a friend than to have to give 
them up againft his will. They shall indeed learn, if 
life be granted me, what comes of cheating your lord 
and failing in your duty as a slave. Even now, I think, 
they are feeling what I say ; my soldiers across the sea 
are putting my words into effeft ”. 

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Ch. XXVIII. To this he would not allow me to 
reply. I was anxious to go away, but he ordered me 
to return to his table. His father sat with him, a 
man, it seemed to me, a hundred and fifty years old. 
For him, as for his son, the Greets cry out in hymns of 
praise, or rather of blatant folly, “ May God multiply 
your years ”. We may infer from this how senseless 
the Greeks are, how fond of such windy talk, how apt 
at flattery, and how greedy. Not merely is he an old 
man, but he has one foot in the grave ; and yet they 
pray for him something that they know for certain 
nature will not allow. The old tombstone himself 
rejoices that they are asking on his behalf for what he 
knows God will not grant, something that, if God did 
grant it, would be a curse, and not a blessing. Nice- 
phorus, for his part, takes pleasure in being hailed as 
“ Prince of Peace ” and “ Morning Star.” To call a 
weakling strong, a fool wise, a pygmy a giant, a black 
man white, a sinner a saint, is not praise, believe me, 
but contumely. And he who takes more pleasure in 
false attributes than in real is exactly like those birds 
whose sight is blinded by the light of day and illumined 
by the shades of night. 

Ch. XXIX. But I musi return to my subject. At 
this meal — a thing that he had not done before — he 
ordered a homily of St. John Chrysodom on the Ads 
of the Apodles to be read aloud. After the reading 
was ended, I asked for permission to return to you ; 
but though he nodded affirmatively, he told my 
persecutor to take me back to my housemates and fellow 
citizens, the lions. This was done, and I had no 
further audience with him until the twentieth day of 
July, being kept under close guard, led I might in 
conversation chance upon news of his movements. 
Meanwhile he ordered Grimizo, Adalbert’s envoy, to 
be brought to him, and gave him indru&ions to return 

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to Italy with an imperial expeditionary force. This 
consifted of twenty-four fire-ships, two filled with 
Russian troops, and two with Galatians ; I do not 
know if he sent any more, I did not see them. The 
bravery of your soldiers, my masters and august 
emperors, needs no encouragement from the thought 
of their enemies’ weakness, although this has often been 
the case with other nations, the feeblest of whom, 
lacking comparatively all strength, have frequently 
routed this Greek courage and made it pay them tribute. 
Juft as it would not frighten you if I were to describe 
them as valiant heroes caft in the mould of the great 
Alexander, so I am not going to fire your spirits when 
I tell you of their weakness, real as it is. I would have 
you believe me, and you will believe me, I know, when 
I say that you with four hundred of your men would 
slaughter the whole expedition if there were no 
ditches or walls in the way. As general of this force — • 
to make a mock of you, I think — he has appointed a 
man of sorts — I say of sorts because the fellow has 
ceased to be a male and has not been able to become a 
female. Adalbert has sent word to Nicephorus that 
he has eight thousand men at arms and that with the 
help of the Greek army they can rout or deftroy you. 
He has also asked your rival to send him some money, 
so that he may urge his men the more eagerly to the fray. 

Ch. XXX. Now, my mafters, “learn the wiles of 
the Greeks, and from one crime know them all”. 1 
Nicephorus gave the slave, to whom he had handed 
over this higgledy-piggledy hireling hoft, a considerable 
sum of money, to be disposed of as follows. If 
Adalbert should join him, as he had promised, with 
seven thousand men at arms and more, then he was to 
distribute it as a donative amongft them. Adalbert’s 
brother Cona with his and the Greek army was to 

1 Virgil Aencid II. 6;. 


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attack you, but Adalbert was to be kept under close 
guard at Bari until his brother should return vi&orious. 
If, however, Adalbert did not bring with him the seven 
thousand men promised, the instructions were that he 
should be seized, bound and handed over to you on 
your arrival ; moreover that the money originally 
destined for him should be paid into your hands. 
What a warrior ! What loyalty ! He wishes to betray 
the man for whom he prepares a defender ; he prepares 
a defender for him whom he wishes to destroy. He is 
loyal to neither, disloyal to both. He does what he 
did not need to do ; he needed to do what he has not 
done. But so be it ! He has a&ed as becomes a 
Greek ! I mud return to my subject. 

Ch. XXXI. On the nineteenth of July he sent off his 
motley fleet, I viewing the spedtacle from my detectable 
abode. The next morning, that being the day on 
which these flippant Greeks celebrate the ascension of 
the prophet Elijah with Ctage plays, he ordered me 
again to attend upon him, and said : “ Our imperial 
majeCty is thinking of leading an army againd the 
Assyrians, not, as your maCter does, againft followers 
of ChriCfc. Laft year I meant to do so, but hearing 
that your maCter intended to invade the territory of 
our empire, we let the Assyrians go and wheeled round 
sharp upon him. His envoy, the Venetian Dominic, 
met us in Macedonia, and with much labour and 
exertion, tricked us into returning, since he affirmed 
with an oath that your maCter would never think of 
such a thing, much less do it. Return therefore 
now ” — when I heard that I said “ Thank God ” to 
myself — “and give this, and this message to your 
maCter. If he satisfies my requirements, you may 
come back ”. 

Ch. XXXII. To him I gave this reply : “ Were 
your mod sacred majeCty to bid me fly to Italy, my 

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maSter assuredly would fulfil all your majesty’s wishes, 
and I should return rejoicing to you With what 
purpose I said this did not, alas, escape him. He 
nodded his head with a smile, and as I was bowing to 
the earth in homage and preparing to take my leave 
bade me wait outside and have dinner with him, a 
dinner which smelt strongly of garlic and onions and 
was filthy with oil and fish sauce. On this day by 
urgent prayers I induced him graciously to accept a 
present from me, a thing which before hehad frequently 
refused to do. 

Ch. XXXIII. While we were sitting at table, a table 
which had length without breadth and was covered 
over for a rod’s breadth but was practically bare down 
its length, he made merry over the Franks, including 
the Germans as well as the Latins under that name, and 
asked me to tell him where the chief city of my bishopric 
was situated and in what name it rejoiced. “It is 
called Cremona ”, I replied, “ and it is quite close to 
Po, the king of all Italian rivers. As your majesty is 
preparing in haSte to send your war galleys to that 
country, let me reap some advantage from having 
already made your acquaintance. Grant Cremona the 
blessings of peace, and of your grace allow it existence, 
seeing that resistance to you is impossible The 
cunning rogue saw that I was speaking ironically, and 
■lowering his eyes promised he would do what I asked. 
He swore furthermore by the virtue of his sacred 
majeSty that no harm should come to me and that his 
galleys would convey me speedily and safely to the 
harbour of Ancona. On this he took his oath, Striking 
his breaft with his fingers. 

Ch. XXXIV. But mark how foul was his perjury. 
His conversation took place on Monday, the twentieth 
of July, and for the next nine days I received no 
supplies from him at all. This too was at a time when 

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the famine at Constantinople was so severe that three 
gold pieces were insufficient to provide one meal for 
my twenty-five attendants and our four Greek guards. 
On the fourth day of that week Nicephorus left 
Constantinople to march againSt the Assyrians. 

Ch. XXXV. On the fifth day his brother summoned 
me and addressed me thus : “ His sacred majeSty has 
gone forth, and at his orders I have remained at home 
to-day. Tell me then now if you desire to see his 
sacred majeSty or if you have anything to say which 
you have not as yet brought forward ”. To that I 
said : “ I have no reason for asking an interview with 
his sacred majeSty nor have I anything fresh to say. 
My one requeSt is that in accordance with his sacred 
majeSty’s promise I be conveyed on his war galleys to 
the harbour of Ancona On hearing this — the 
Greeks are always ready to swear by the head of another 
— he began to swear that he would carry out the 
promise by the head of the emperor, by his own life 
and by his children — may God’s protection for them be 
suited to the truth of his words ! I asked him : 
“ When ? ” and he replied : “ As soon as the emperor 
has gone ; the admiral of the fleet, who has sole control 
in naval matters, will see to your business direCtly 
after his majesty’s departure Deceived by this 
hope I went away from him rejoicing. 

Ch. XXXVI. Two days later, however, on the 
Saturday Nicephorus bade me attend him at Umbria, a 
place eighteen miles distant from Constantinople. 
He there addressed me thus : “ I thought that you, as 
a man of rank and honour, had come here to fulfil my 
wishes and establish a perpetual friendship between me 
and your maSter. Since by reason of the hardness of 
your heart you are unwilling to do this, at leaSt bring 
about one thing, which you can with perfeCt juftice 
arrange. Promise me that your maSter will give no 

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help to the princes of Capua and Benevento, my slaves, 
whom I am arranging to attack. As he offers me 
nothing that is his, let him at leaf! give up what is 
mine. It is a known fact that their fathers and their 
grandfathers paid tribute to our empire, and my 
imperial forces will see to it that they themselves soon 
do the same To that I answered : “ These princes 
are men of high nobility and my master’s vassals. If 
he sees an army of yours attacking them, he will send 
them such a force as will annihilate your expedition and 
take the two oversea provinces from you Then, 
swelling like a toad with anger, he cried : “ Go away. 
By my life, and by my parents who begat me to be the 
man I am, I will soon give your master other things to 
think about than protecting rebellious slaves ”. 

Cb. XXXVII. I was juft leaving him when he bade me 
sit down to dinner with the interpreter ; and summon- 
ing the brother of the two princes and Bysantius of Bari, 
ordered them to vomit gross insults againft yourselves 
and againft the Latin and German nations. On my 
departure, however, from the disgufting meal they sent 
messengers to me secretly and swore that their yelpings 
were not voluntary but due to the emperor’s wishes and 
threats. Nicephorus himself at the same dinner, asked 
me if you had parks and if in your parks you had wild 
asses and other animals. When I told him you had 
parks and animals in the parks, but no wild asses, he 
said : “ I will take you into our park and you will be 
surprised both at its size and at the wild asses it 
contains ”. I was accordingly taken to a park which 
was fairly large and hilly andfull of bushes, but not at all 
picturesque. I was riding along with my hat on when 
the marshall of the palace saw me and sent his son in 
hafte to say that it was not permitted for any one to 
wear a hat in the emperor’s presence and that I muff 
put on a bonnet. I answered : “ Women with us 

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wear bonnets and hoods when they are out riding, men 
wear hats. You have no right to compel me to 
change the cudom of my country here, seeing that we 
allow your envoys when they come to us to keep to 
their ways. They wear long sleeves, bands, brooches, 
flowing hair, and tunics down to their heels, both when 
they ride or walk or sit at table with us ; and what to 
all of us seems quite too shameful, they alone kiss our 
emperors with covered heads ”. And then I said to 
myself : “ May God forbid it in the future ”. 

“ Well ”, said he, “ you muff go back.” 

Ch. XXXVIII. As I was doing so I met their so-called 
wild asses, in a herd with some roe deer. But why, I 
ask, wild asses ? Our tame ones at Cremona are juft 
like them. Their colour and shape are the same ; both 
have long ears, both are equally melodious when they 
begin to bray ; they are alike in size and in swiftness, 
and wolves find each kind equally delicious. When I 
saw them I said to the Greek who was riding with me : 
“ I never saw the like in Saxony ”. “ Ah ”, he replied, 

“ if your master be complaisant to his sacred majelty, he 
will give him many such ; and it will be no small glory 
for him to possess something that none of his illustrious 
predecessors had even seen ”. But believe me, my 
august mailers, my brother and fellow bishop Antony 
can supply beasts quite as good as these — witness the 
market at Cremona — and his walk the Streets not as 
wild asses but as tame ones, and inStead of roaming 
idle they carry loads upon their backs. However, when 
my companion told Nicephorus what I had. said, he 
sent me two wild goats and gave me permission to 
go. On the following day he himself set out for 
Syria. 

Ch. XXXIX. Pray now mark why he led his army 
againSt the Assyrians. The Greeks and Saracens have 
certain writings which they call The Visions of Daniel ; 

2 57 


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The Embassy to Constantinople 

I should call them Sibylline Books. In them is found 
written how many years each emperor shall live ; what 
crisis will occur during his reign ; whether he shall have 
peace or war and whether fortune will smile upon the 
Saracens or not. According to these prophecies the 
Assyrians in the time of the present emperor Nicephorus 
will not be able to resift the Greeks, but Nicephorus 
himself will only live for seven years. After his death 
an emperor will rise worse than he — only I fear that 
none such can be found — and more unwarlike ; in 
whose time the Assyrians shall so prevail that they 
will bring under their rule all the country as far as 
Chalcedon, which is not far from Constantinople. 
Both peoples pay serious heed to these dates • and so 
now for one and the same reason the Greeks are 
pressing vigorously forward and the Saracens in despair 
offer no resiftance, awaiting the time then they will 
attack and the Greeks in turn not resift. 

Ch. XL. A certain Sicilian bishop named Hippo- 
lytus 1 wrote similarly concerning your empire and our 
people — I call “ our people ” all those who are under 
your rule — and I pray that what he wrote about these 
present times may turn out true. His other 
prophecies, as I have heard from those who know his 
books, have all been fulfilled. One of his many 
sayings may be here mentioned. He says that in these 
days the writing shall be fulfilled — “ The lion and his 
whelp shall together exterminate the wild ass.” The 
Greeks interpret this as follows. Leo — that is, the 
Emperor of the Romans or the Greeks — and his whelp 
— the king, namely, of the Franks — shall together in 
these days drive out the wild ass — that is, the African 
king of the Saracens. But their interpretation does 
not seem to me to be true. The lion and his whelp 

1 Hippolytua, author of De AnttcbriBo , bishop of Rome ; died in exile in Sardinia 
a.d. 235. 

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differ in size, but are of one nature, species, and kind ; 
and to the beft of my knowledge it seems irrational to 
make the lion the emperor of the Greeks and his whelp 
the king of the Franks. Both these rulers are men, as 
the lion and his whelp are both animals ; but they 
differ from one another in character as much — I will 
not say as one species differs from another — but as 
rational beings differ from those devoid of reason. 
The whelp differs from the lion only in age ; the form 
is the same, the fury is the same, the roar the same. 
The king of the Greeks has long hair and wears a tunic 
with long sleeves and a bonnet ; he is lying, crafty, 
merciless, foxy, proud, falsely humble, miserly and 
greedy ; he eats garlic, onions and leeks, and he drinks 
bath water. The king of the Franks, on the other 
hand, is beautifully shorn, and wears a garment quite 
different from a woman’s dress and a hat ; he is truthful, 
guileless, merciful when right, severe when necessary, 
always truly humble, never miserly ; he does not live 
on garlic, onions and leeks nor does he spare animals’ 
lives so as to heap up money by selling instead of eating 
them. You have heard the difference : do not accept 
the Greek interpretation ; it either refers to the future, 
or it is not true. It is impossible that Nicephorus, as 
they falsely say, should be the lion and Otto the whelp, 
and that they together should exterminate anyone. 
“ Sooner shall the Parthians and the Germans traverse 
one another’s lands and in exile drink the one from the 
Arar and the other from the Tigris ”, x than that 
Nicephorus and Otto should join in friendship and 
confirm a treaty of union. 

Cb. XLI. You have heard the Greek interpretation ; 
now hear that of Liudprand, bishop of Cremona. I 
say — and not merely do I say but I affirm — that if the 
writing is to be fulfilled in these days, the lion and his 

1 Virgil, Eclogues, I, 62, 


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whelp are the father and the son, Otto and Otto, 
unlike in nothing, only differing in age ; and they shall 
together at this time exterminate the wild ass Nice- 
phorus ; who not unsuitably is compared to a wild ass 
by reason of his vain and empty boatings and his 
incestuous marriage with his mistress and fellow god- 
parent. If this wild ass be not exterminated by our 
lion and his whelp— namely by Otto and Otto, father 
and son, the august: emperors of the Romans — then 
that which Hippolytus wrote will not be true. The 
Greek interpretation mentioned above muSt be entirely 
discarded. O blessed Jesus, eternal God, Word of the 
Father, who doSt speak to us, unworthy as we are, not 
by voice but by inspiration, mayeSfc Thou decree no 
other interpretation of this sentence than mine. 
Command that our lion and his whelp exterminate and 
humble this wild ass in his mortal life, so that at the 
Day of the Lord his soul may be saved, returning to 
its proper place and making submission to his masters 
the emperors Basil and Constantine ! 

Ch. XLII. Astronomers also make the same pro- 
nouncement as this in relation to yourselves and 
Nicephorus. It is truly wonderful. I have spoken 
with a certain aStronomer who exactly described to me 
your figure and habits, and those, sire, of your auguSt 
namesake ; and also told me of everything that has 
happened to me in the paSt as though it had happened 
that day. There was not a single friend or enemy, 
whom I thought of asking him about, whose appearance 
figure and habits he could not describe. He foretold 
every disaster that has occurred to me on this journey. 
Even though everything else he said prove false, I 
pray that one thing be true — I mean, what he foretold 
you would do to Nicephorus. O may it come to pass ! 
O may it come to pass ! Then I shall feel that all the 
wrongs I have suffered are as nothing. 

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The Embassy to Constantinople 

Ch. XLI1I. The aforesaid Hippolytus writes also 
that not the Greeks but the Franks shall crush the 
Saracens. Encouraged by this prophecy the Saracens 
three years ago engaged in battle in Sicilian waters near 
Scylla and Chary bdis with the patrician Manuel, 
nephew of Nicephorus. They overcame his immense 
forces, and taking Manuel prisoner killed him and hung 
up his headless corpse. As for his fellow-admiral, a 
gentleman who was of neither gender, they disdained to 
put him to death ; they put him in chains and after he 
was wafted by long years of imprisonment they sold him 
for a price which no sane man would have given for a 
creature of his kind. Encouraged by this same 
prophecy they soon afterwards attacked the general 
Exacontes with equal resolution, and putting him to 
flight completely deftroyed his army. 

Ch. XLIV. Another reason also compelled Nice- 
phorus to lead his army againft the Assyrians at this 
moment. By the will of God this year a famine had so 
wafted all the Greek territory that one gold piece did 
not purchase two of our Pavian measures of corn ; and 
this in the very realm of plenty. This misfortune, 
in which field mice played their part, Nicephorus 
increased by collefting for himself at harveft time all 
the available corn and paying the wretched owners a 
very low price for it. In the Mesopotamian diftrift, 
where there was an absence of mice, the crops were 
abundant, and the amount of corn he got from there 
equalled the amount of the sands of the sea. As the 
result of this mean transaction famine raged shamefully 
everywhere, and so he brought together eighty thousand 
men under pretence of a military expedition, and for 
one whole month went on selling for two gold pieces 
what he had bought for one. These, my mafter, are 
the reasons which compelled Nicephorus to lead his 
forces againft the Assyrians juft at this moment. And 

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The Embassy to Constantinople 

what forces ! They are not really men ; they are 
dummies ; their tongues are saucy, but “ cold are their 
hands in war.” 1 Nicephorus did not look for quality 
in them, but only for quantity. How dangerous this 
will be for him he will learn to his sorrow, when his 
unwarlike hoSt, relying only on its size, shall be put to 
flight by a handful of our men who have both knowledge 
and appetite for fighting. 

Cb. XLV. When you were besieging Bari, not more 
than three hundred Hungarians laid hands on five 
hundred Greeks near Thessalonica and haled them off 
into Hungary. Their success induced two hundred 
Hungarians in Macedonia, not far from Constantinople, 
to attempt a similar feat ; but forty of them, retiring 
carelessly along a narrow pass, were taken prisoners. 
These men Nicephorus has released from prison, and 
dressing them in the moSt coStly garments has made 
them fas bodyguard and defenders, to go with him 
againSt the Assyrians. What sort of an army it is 
you can infer from this fa£t : the chief officers come 
from Venice and Amalfi ! 

Cb. XLV I. But I muSt resume my Story and tell 
you what happened to me next. On the twenty- 
seventh of July at Umbria, outside Constantinople, I 
received permission from Nicephorus to return to you. 
On my arrival at Constantinople, however, I was told 
by the patrician Christopher, the eunuch who repre- 
sented Nicephorus there, that I could not Start juSt 
then. The Saracens were holding the sea, he said, 
and the Hungarians the land ; I should have to wait 
till they retired. Both of his Statements, alas, were 
lies ! The next thing was that guards were set to 
prevent myself and my companions from leaving our 
house. The poor of Latin speech who came to me for 
alms they seized and slew or put in prison. They 

1 Virgil, Jerteid , XI, 338. 


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would not allow our Greek interpreter to go out, even 
to buy supplies ; and so our cook had to go, although 
he knew no Greek and could only speak to the vendor, 
when he bought from him, with signs on his fingers or 
nods of his head instead of words. He bought for four 
shillings about as much food as the interpreter got for 
one. Some of my friends sent me spices, bread, wine 
and fruit ; they flung everything on the ground and 
drove the messengers away with their backs loaded with 
blows. Had not God’s pity prepared before me a 
table againft my adversaries, I should have had to 
accept the death they devised for me. But He who 
permitted me to be thus tried, mercifully gave me power 
to endure. Such were the trials and tribulations I 
suffered at Constantinople from the fourth of June 
until the second of October, a period of one hundred 
and twenty days. 

Ch. XLVI1. To increase my calamities, on the day 
of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary the holy mother 
of God, an ill-omened embassy came from the apoStolic 
and universal Pope John with a letter asking Nicephorus 
“ the emperor of the Greeks ” to conclude an alliance 
and firm friendship with his beloved and spiritual son 
Otto, “ auguSt emperor of the Romans ”. If you ask 
me why these words, and manner of address, which to 
the Greeks seem sinful audacity, did not coffc the bearer 
liis life and overwhelm it even before they w ere read, 
I cannot answer. On other points I have often shown 
a fine and copious flow of words ; on this I am as 
dumb as a fish. The Greeks abused the sea, cursed 
the waves, and wondered exceedingly how they 
could have transported such an iniquity, and why 
the deep had not opened to swallow up the ship. 
“ The audacity of it ! ” they cried, “ to call the 
universal emperor of the Romans, the one and only 
Nicephorus, the great, the auguft * emperor of the 
Greeks and to ftyle a poor barbaric creature ‘ emperor 

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of the Romans ! ’ O sky ? O earth ! O sea ! What 
shall we do with these scoundrels and criminals ? They 
are paupers, and if we kill them we pollute our hands 
with vile blood ; they are ragged, they are slaves, they 
are peasants ; if we beat them we disgrace not them but 
ourselves ; they are not worthy of our gilded Roman 
scourge, or of any punishment of that kind. Would 
that one of them were a bishop and the other a 
marquess ! Then we would sew them in a sack, and 
after giving them a sound beating with rods and 
plucking out their beards and hair we would throw 
them into the sea. As for these fellows, their lives 
may be spared ; but they shall be kept in close custody 
until Nicephorus, the sacred emperor of the Romans, 
be informed of these insults. ” 

Ch. XLVIII. When I heard of this I considered 
them happy in their poverty, myself unhappy in my 
riches. At home my own desire excused my lack of 
wealth ; in Constantinople fear taught me that I had 
the gold of Croesus. Poverty had always seemed 
burdensome ; but then it appeared light, acceptable, 
desirable ; in any case desirable, since it saved its 
votaries from death, its followers from the whip. 
But since at Constantinople alone poverty thus defends 
its children, may it there alone be cherished ! 

Ch. XLIX. The pope’s envoys were therefore put 
in prison and the offensive letter sent to Nicephorus 
in Mesopotamia. No one returned with an answer 
from him until the twelfth of September, and then I 
was not informed of its purport. Two days later, that 
is, on the fourteenth of September, by dint of prayers 
and bribes, I secured permission to adore the cross that 
gives us life and salvation. Amid the noisy crowd 
some persons approached me unnoticed by my guards 
and cheered my sad heart with words of furtive 
consolation. 


264 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

Ch. L. On the seventeenth of September, however, 
though I was but half wap between life and death, I 
was summoned to the palace. The patrician eunuch 
Christopher with three other officials was there, and 
when I arrived he rose to his feet and gave me a 
courteous reception. Their discourse began as follows : 
“ The pallor of pour face, the emaciation of pour whole 
bodp, the unusual length of pour hair and beard, all 
reveal the immense pain that is in pour heart because 
the date of pour return to pour master has been 
delaped. But be not angrp with the sacred emperor, 
we prap, nor pet with us. The cause of pour delap is 
this. The Pope of Rome — if indeed he map be called 
pope when he has held communion and miniStrp with 
Alberic’s son, the apoftate, the adulter, the sacrilegious 
— has sent a letter to our moSh sacred emperor, worthp 
of himself and unworthp of Nicephorus, calling him 
emperor of 4 the Greeks ’, and not ‘ of the Romans \ 
Certainement this has been done at pour master’s 
instigation ”. 

Ch. LI. “ What’s this I hear ! ” said I to mpself. 
“ I am loft.” Assuredlp now I shall be marched off 
Straight into court.” “ Listen ”, thep continued, “ we 
know pou mean to tell us that the pope is the moStStupid 
of men.” “ I do not sap so ”, interposed I. “ Liften ! 
The sillp blockhead of a pope does not know that the 
sacred Conftantine transferred to this citp the imperial 
sceptre, the senate, and all the Roman knighthood, and 
left in Rome nothing but vile slaves, fishermen, 
confedtioners, poulterers, baftards, plebeians, under- 
lings. He never would have written this letter if pour 
king had not suggested it ; and how dangerous for 
both of them it will be, unless thep come to their 
senses, the immediate future will show.” “ But the 
pope ”, said I, “ in his noble simplicitp thought that 
in writing thus he was honouring the emperor, not 

265 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

insulting him. We know, of course, that Constantine 
the Roman emperor came here with the Roman knight- 
hood and called the city he founded by his own name. 
But as you have changed your language, customs and 
dress, the mofk holy pope thought that the name of 
the Romans, like their dress, would displease you. If 
life be granted him, he will make this plain in his future 
letters. Their superscription shall be this : . 1 John, 
the Roman pope, to Nicephorus, Confkantine and 
Basilius, the great andauguSl emperors of the Romans V* 
Mark, pray, why I said this. 

Ch. L1I. Nicephorus came to his high place on the 
throne by perjury and adultery. Since the welfare 
of all ChriSlians is a matter of anxiety to the pope of 
Rome, let the lord pope send to Nicephorus a letter 
like in all respects to those sepulchres which without are 
whited, within are full of dead men’s bones. Let him 
in that letter show him how by perjury and adultery 
he has obtained the rule over his markers ; let him then 
invite him to a synod, and if he will not come, let him 
be smitten with the papal anathema. If the super- 
scription be not as I have said, the letter will never 
reach him. 

Ch. LIII. Now let me return to my narrative. 
When the aforesaid princes heard my undertaking 
about the address on the letter, they said, not suspecting 
any guile : “ We thank you, sir bishop ; it becomes 
your wisdom to a£k as mediator in these important 
matters. You are the only one of the Franks for whom 
we now feel any efkeem. But when at your bidding 
they have correCked their mifkakes, we will love them 
also. As for yourself, when you return to us, you shall 
not go away unrewarded ”. “ If ever I return here 

of my own accord ”, I said to myself, “ may Nicephorus 
give me a crown and a golden sceptre ! ” “ But tell 

us ”, they continued, “ does your mofk sacred marker 

266 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

wish to confirm friendship with the emperor by a 
marriage treaty ? ” “ When I came here, he wished 

it ”, I replied, “ but during my long ffcay here he has 
received no letter from me, and he thinks that you 
have made a faux fas and put me in prison as a captive. 
He is burning with rage, like a lioness robbed of her 
whelps, and will not reft until he has taken vengeance in 
juft wrath. He hates the idea of a marriage and is 
only anxious to pour out his anger upon you ”. “ If 

he tries to do that”, they answered, “neither Italy 
will proteft him, nor his native land of Saxony, that 
poverty-ftricken country where the people dress in 
skins. With our money, which gives us power, we will 
rouse the whole world againft him, and we will break 
him in pieces like a potter’s vessel, which when broken 
cannot be put into shape again. And since we think 
that you have bought some cloaks in his honour, we 
order them now to be produced. Those that are fit 
for you shall be marked with a leaden seal and left in 
your possession ; those that are prohibited to all 
nations, except to us Romans, shall be taken away and 
their price returned ”. 

Ch. LIV. Thereupon they took from me five very 
valuable pieces of purple cloth ; considering yourselves 
and all the Italians, Saxons, Franks, Bavarians, Swabians 
— nay, all nations — as unworthy to appear abroad in 
such ornate veffcments. How improper and insulting 
is it that these soft, effeminate creatures, with their long 
sleeves and hoods and bonnets, idle liars of neither 
gender, should go about in purple, while heroes like 
yourselves, men of courage, skilled in war, full of faith 
and love, submissive to God, full of virtues, may not ! 
“ But where is your emperor’s word i ” I said. “ Where 
is the imperial promise ? When I said farewell to 
him, I asked him up to what price he would allow me 
to buy vefkments in honour of my church. He replied, 

267 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

‘ Buy any that you like and as many as you like ’. In 
thus fixing quality and quantity he clearly did not 
make a distinction, as if he had said, ‘ excepting this and 
that His brother Leo, the marshal of the palace, 
can bear me witness ; so can the interpreter Euodisius, 
and John and Romanus. I can testify to it myself, 
for even without the interpreter I understood what the 
emperor said.” “ But these Stuffs are prohibited ”, 
they replied, “ and when the emperor spoke as you say 
he did he could not imagine that you would ever dream 
of such things as these. As we surpass all other nations 
in wealth and wisdom, so it is right that, we should 
surpass them in dress. Those who are unique in the 
grace of their virtue should also be unique in the beauty 
of their raiment.” 

Ch. LV. “ Such garments can hardly be called 
unique,” I said, “ when with us Street walkers and 
conjurors wear them.” “ Where do you get them 
from ? ” they asked. “ From Venetian and Amalfian 
traders ”, I replied, “ who by bringing them to us 
support life by the food we give them.” “ They 
shall not do so any longer ”, they answered. “ They 
shall be searched, and if any cloth of this kind be found 
on them, they shall be punished with a beating and 
have their hair clipped close.” “ In the time of the 
Emperor ConStantine, of blessed memory,” I said, “ I 
came here not as bishop but as deacon, not sent by an 
emperor or king but by the Marquess Berengar. I 
then bought many more vestments of greater value 
than those I have bought now, and they were not 
inspected, and scrutinised by the Greeks, nor yet 
stamped with a leaden seal. Now, having become a 
bishop by the mercy of God and being sent as envoy 
by the magnificent emperors, Otto and Otto, father 
and son, I am treated with ignominy ; my vestments are 
marked after the manner of the Venetians, and any of 

268 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

them that seem of value are taken from me, although 
they are being transported for use in the church 
entrusted to my care. Are you not weary of insulting 
me, or rather, my masters, for whose sake I am thus 
scorned ? Is it not enough that I was given into 
custody, tortured by hunger and thirft, and not 
allowed to return to them, but detained here until 
now ? Muft you also, as one final insult to them, rob 
me of things that are honestly mine ? At leaffc only 
take away what I purchased ; leave me what was 
presented as a gift by friends.” To that they replied : 
“ The emperor Constantine was a mild man, who 
always Stayed in his palace, and by peaceful methods 
won the friendship of all the world. The Emperor 
Nicephorus on the other hand shuns the palace as if 
it were the plague. We call him a man of contention 
and almoSt a lover of Strife ; he does not win people’s 
friendship by offering them money, he subdues them to 
his sway by terror and the sword. And that you may 
realise in what eSteem we hold your royal makers, we 
shall treat gifts and purchases in the same way : every 
purple veStment you have acquired muSt be returned 
to us ”. 

Ch. LVI. Having done and said these things, they 
gave me a letter written and sealed with gold to bring 
to you ; but even that in my opinion was not worthy 
of your greatness. They brought also another dispatch 
sealed with silver and said : “ We think it improper for 
your pope to receive a letter from our emperor. But 
the marshal of the court, the emperor’s brother, 
sends him an epiftle which is good enough for him — 
by you and not by his pauper envoys — and warns him 
that unless he comes to his senses he will find that he is 
completely ruined 

Cb. LVII. After I had received the letters they 
bade me farewell and sent me off with many sweet and 

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The Embassy to Constantinople 

loving kisses. But as I went they despatched another 
message, right worthy of themselves but not of me, to 
the effeft that they would supply horses for myself 
and my suite but not for my baggage. Consequently, 
to my great and natural annoyance, I had to give my 
guide a present worth fifty gold pieces as an extra fee. 
I had no other means of repaying Nicephorus for his 
miscondudt ; so I wrote the following verses upon the 
wall of my hateful house and also upon a wooden table : 

“ TruSt not the Greeks ; they live but to betray ; 
Nor heed their promises, what e’er they say. 

If lies will serve them, any oath they swear, 

And when it’s time to break it feel no fear. 

This lofty marble house with windows wide, 

That has no well and cannot shade provide 
AgainSt the sun, but lets in cold and heat, 

Was for four summer months my sole retreat. 

I, Liudprand, from far Cremona came 

To the great town that bears Constantine’s name, 

A messenger of peace, when my great lord, 

The Emperor Otto, had with fire and sword 
Gone up to conquer Bari, and in haSte 
Wrought havoc and laid all the country waSte. 

He yielded to my prayers, the vi Story won, 

For lying Greece had promised to his son 
Her princess as a bride. Ah, would that she. 

Had not been born nor this land e’er seen me ! 

And then I should not have endured the spite 

Of him who now refuses to unite 

His Stepchild with our prince. The time draws near 

When Mars, by Furies driven, will appear 

And banish Peace, unless God bars his way, 

Fair Peace, for whom the whole world sighs to-day. 
And if he comes, all blame I shall decline : 

The fault, Nicephorus, the fault is thine.” 

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The Embassy to Constantinople 

Ch. LV11I. After writing these lines, on the second 
of October, I went on board my boat and left the city 
that was once so rich and prosperous and is now such 
a starveling, a city full of lies, tricks, perjury and greed, 
rapacious, avaricious, vain-glorious. My guide was 
with me and after forty-nine days of ass-riding, walking, 
horse-riding, faSting, thirSting, sighing, weeping and 
groaning, I arrived at Naupadtus, which is a city of 
Nicopolis. There my guide deserted me after putting 
us on two small ships and committing us to two 
imperial messengers who were to bring me by sea to 
Otranto. Their commission, however, did not give 
them the right of obtaining supplies from the Greek 
princes, who everywhere treated them with scorn, 
and we fed them rather then they us. How often 
in my indignation did I not think of Terence’s line 1 : 

“Those whom you have sent to help us need themselves a 
helper too.” 

Ch. LIX. On the twenty third of November 
then I left Naupadtus, and in two days reached the 
river Phidari, my companions not remaining on the 
ships, which could not hold them, but walking along 
the shore. From where we were on the Phidari we 
could see Patras eight miles away on the opposite coaSt. 
This place of apo&olic suffering, which we had visited 
with our prayers on our way up to Constantinople, we 
now omitted — I confess my fault — to visit with prayers 
a second time. My unspeakable longing to return to 
you, my auguSt lords and masters, and my desire to see 
you again was the cause of my weakness ; indeed, if it 
had not been for that desire I think I should have died 
there and then. 

Ch. LX. A south wind rose up againSt me, madman 
that I was, disturbing the sea to its loweSt depths by its 
guSts. It did this for several days and nights in 

* Terence, Emucbm , IV, 6, 32. 


27I 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

succession and on the thirtieth of November, the day 
of Andrew’s passion, I realised that my sin was the 
cause of the trouble. Trouble taught me wisdom. We 
were suffering terribly from hunger. The people of 
the country were planning to murder us and seize our 
goods. The sea was raging fiercely and prevented our 
escape. So, turning to the church before my eyes, 
I said with tears and lamentation : “ O holy apostle 
Andrew, I am the servant of thy fellow-fisherman, 
brother, and fellow apoftle Simon Peter. It was not 
from diffcafte or from pride that I avoided the place of 
thy passion ; I was tormented by love for my auguft 
masters and by their command to return home. If my 
sin has stirred thee to wrath, let the merit of my august 
masters incline thee to mercy ; thou hast nothing 
to bestow on thy brother; bestow something on 
the emperors who show their love for thy brother by 
clinging to Him who knows all things. Thou knoweft 
with what labour and toil, with what vigils and at what 
coft they have saved the Roman church of thy brother 
Apostle Peter from the hands of the ungodly, and have 
enriched, honoured and exalted it, and restored it to 
its proper condition. If my works have brought me 
into danger, let their merits save me ; and let not those 
whom thy aforesaid brother in the faith and in the 
flesh, Peter the chief apoTle of the apoftles, wishes to 
rejoice and prosper, have cause for sorrow in this 
matter, sorrow, I mean, for myself, who am their 
envoy ! 

Ch. LXI. Truly, my masters and august emperors, 
this is not flattery, nor do I sew pillows under my arms. 
The thing, I repeat, is true. After two days through 
your merits the sea grew calm and became so tranquil 
that when our sailors deserted us we sailed the ship 
ourselves the hundred and forty miles to Leucas, 
suffering no danger or discomfort) except a little 

272 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

difficulty at the mouth of the river Achelous, where 
its strong current is beaten back by the sea waves. 

Ch. LXII. How, moSt mighty emperors, will you 
repay God for all that He did for you in my case ? I 
will tell you. This is God’s will and demand ; and 
although He can do it without your help. He wishes you 
to be His instruments in this matter. He himself 
gives what is offered to Him, and He keeps what He 
claims from us in order to crown His work. Attend 
to me then, pray. Nicephorus, who loves to harm all 
churches, out of the abundant envy he feels towards 
you has ordered the patriarch of Constantinople to 
raise the church of Otranto to the rank of an arch- 
bishopric, and not to allow the divine mysteries through- 
out Apulia and Calabria to be celebrated in Latin, but 
to have them celebrated in Greek. He says that the 
former popes were merchants who sold the Holy Spirit, 
whereby all things are vivified and ruled, which fills 
the world, which knows the Word, which is co-eternal 
and consubStantial with God the Father and His Son 
Jesus ChriSt, without beginning, without end, con- 
tinually true, which is not valued at a price, but is 
bought by the clean of heart for as much as they deem 
it worth. So PolyeuCtus, the patriarch of Constanti- 
nople, has written to the Bishop of Otranto, giving him 
power under this authority to consecrate bishops in 
Acerenza, Tursi, Gravena, Matera and Tricarico, all 
sees which evidently belong to the jurisdiction of our 
apoStolic Pope. But why need I say that, when the 
churchof Constantinople itself is properly subjedt to our 
holy catholic and apoStolic church of Rome ? We know, 
nay, we have seen that the Bishop of Constantinople 
only wears the pallium by permission of our holy father. 
But when the godless Alberic, filled by cupidity not in 
drops but in torrents, laid claim to the city of Rome and 
held the apoStolic Pope like a slave in his dwelling, 

273 


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The Embassy to Constantinople 

the emperor Romanos made his own son, the 
eunuch Theophyladtus, patriarch. Knowing Alberic’s 
cupidity, he sent him handsome presents and got a 
letter despatched to the patriarch Theophyladtus in 
our pope’s name, giving him and his successors authority 
to wear the pallium without further papal permission. 
The result of that shameful transadlion has been the 
growth of the custom whereby not only the patriarchs 
but all the Greek bishops now wear the pallium. How 
absurd that is goes without further remark. It is 
therefore my proposal that a sacred synod should be 
held to which Polyeudtus shall be summoned. If he 
be unwilling to come and refuse canonically to amend 
the above Stated faults, then let that be done which 
the sacred canons decree. Do you, moSt mighty 
emperors, continue the work you have begun ; if 
Nicephorus will not obey us, when we proceed to 
convidt him canonically, see to it that he hears from 
you, whose armies the old corpse does not dare to face. 
This, I say, is what the apoStles, our makers and fellow- 
soldiers, wish us to do. The Greeks muSt not hold 
Rome a place of no account, because Conftantine left 
it ; it muft rather receive especial love, veneration, and 
respedt, inasmuch as the apoStles, the holy teachers 
Peter and Paul, came there. May what I have written 
on this matter suffice until by the grace of God and the 
holy apoStles’ prayers I escape from the hands of the 
Greeks and return to you. I hope then it will not 
weary me to say what it irks me now to write. Now 
let me return to my subjedt. 

Ch. LXIII. On the sixth of December we came to 
Leucas, where, as by all the other bishops, we were 
moSt unkindly received and treated by the bishop who 
is a eunuch. In all Greece — I speak the truth and do 
not lie — I found no hospitable bishops. They are 
both poor and rich ; rich in gold coins wherewith they 

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The Embassy to Constantinople 

gamble recklessly ; poor in servants and utensils. They 
sit by themselves at a bare little table, with a ship’s 
biscuit in front of them, and instead of drinking their 
bath water they sip it from a tiny glass. They do 
their own buying and selling ; they close and open 
their doors themselves ; they are their own ftewards, 
their own ass-drivers, their own “ capones ” — aha, I 
meant to write “ caupones ”, but the thing is so true 
that it made me write the truth against my will — as I 
say, they are “ capones ”, that is, eunuchs, which is 
against canon law ; and they are also “ caupones ”, 
that is, innkeepers, which is again uncanonical. It is 
true of them to say 1 : 

Of old a lettuce ended the repast : 

To-day it is the first course and the last. 

If their poverty imitated that of Christ, I should 
judge them happy in it. But their reason is sordid 
gain and the accursed hunger for gold. May God be 
merciful to them. I think that they aft thus because 
their churches are tributary to the state. The bishop 
of Leucas swore to me that his church had to pay 
Nicephorus a hundred gold pieces every year, and the 
other churches the same, more or less according to 
their means. How unjuft this is is shown by the 
enaftments of the holy patriarch Joseph. At the time 
of the famine he made all Egypt pay tribute to 
Pharaoh, but the land of the priefts he allowed to be 
exempt. 

Ch, LXIV. Leaving Leucas then on the fourteenth 
of December and sailing the ship ourselves — for the 
crew, as we said above, had run away — on the eighteenh 
we arrived at Corfu. There, even before we left the 
ship, we were met by a certain captain called Michael, 
a Chersionite from Cherson. He was a gray-haired 
man, jovial looking and of merry conversation ; but, 

* Martial XIII, 14. 


27S 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

as it afterwards proved, a devil in heart, as God showed 
to me even then by clear signs, if only I had had the 
wit to understand them. At the very moment when 
he was giving me the kiss of peace, which in his heart 
he did not mean, all the great island of Corfu trembled ; 
and not only once but three times on the same day it 
trembled to its base. Moreover, four days later, on 
the twenty-second of December, while I was breaking 
bread at table with the man who was treading me under 
foot, the sun, ashamed of his disgraceful conduct, hid 
the rays of his light and suffering an eclipse that 
terrified Michael but did not change him. 

Ch. LXV . I will explain what I did for him in the 
way of friendship and what I received from him in 
recompense. On my way up to Constantinople I gave 
his son the coStly shield, gilded and wonderfully 
ornamented, which you, my auguSt maSters, had given 
me with the other presents I was to beStow upon 
my Greek friends. On this occasion returning from 
Constantinople I gave the father a very expensive 
cloak ; and this is all the thanks I got. Nicephorus 
had written that at whatever hour I should arrive he 
should put me on a faSt galley and send me on to the 
chamberlain Leo. He did not do this, but kept me 
there for twenty days, I, not he, paying for my food ; 
until at laSt a messenger came from the aforesaid 
chamberlain Leo, rating him for delaying me. Unable 
to endure my reproaches, lamentations and sighs he 
went away and handed me over to a fellow so utterly 
sinful and bad that he did not even allow me to buy 
supplies until I gave him a caldron worth a pound of 
silver. After twenty days I got away, but the man who 
had had my caldron ordered the ship’s captain, after 
passing a certain promontory, to put me ashore and 
let me die of hunger. He did this because he had 
turned over my cloaks to see if I had any purple cloth 

276 



The Embassy to Constantinople 

concealed, and I had refused to give him the one he 
wanted. O you Michaels, you Michaels, where have 
I ever found so many of you together and such ones ! 
The fellow at Constantinople who had charge of me 
was a Michael, and he handed me over to a rival 
Michael, bad to worse, rascal to rogue. My guide was 
also called Michael, a simple man indeed, but one whose 
saintly simplicity harmed me almoSt as much as did 
the others’ perversity. But from the hands of these 
puny Michaels I fell into yours, O monStrous Michael, 
half-hermit, half-monk. I tell you and I tell you 
truly ; the bath water will not avail you, which you 
drink so assiduously for the love of St. John the 
BaptiSt. Those who seek God falsely never merit to 
find him. 


2 77 




INDEX OF PERSONS 

(The references are in the ANTAPODOSIS (A) to hooks and shapers ; 
in the OTTONIS GESTA (0) and the LEGATIO (L) to chapers only . 
In the spelling of proper names one form for convenience is used : Liud- 
prand writes indifferently Ludovicus , Lodovicus, Hlodoicus , Hulodoicus 
for our Louis and the German Ludwig ; Adalbertus, Adelbertus, 
Adelpertus ; Marosia , Marotia , Marozia ; Rusi , Russi , Rusii > etc.) 

Abderahamen, Caliph, A , I, ii ; V, ii ; V, xix 
Abraham, Patriarch, A , IV, xxvi 
Ahab, King of Israel, A , V, xvii 
Adelard, Bishop, A , V, xxvi ; V, xxix 
Adalbert, King of Italy, 0, i ; vii ; Z, xxix ; xxx 
Adalbert, Marquess of Ivrea, A , II, xxxiii ; II, lv ; IV, viii ; V, iv 
Adalbert, Marquess of Tuscany, A 9 I, xxxix; I, xli ; II, xxxvi ; 
III, vii 

Adalbert, Count of Bamberg, A 9 II, vi 
Adelaide, Empress of Germany, A , IV, xiii; Z, i 
Adeltac, Archbishop of Hamburg, 0, ix 
Adrian, Cardinal-prieft of Calixtus, 0, ix 
Adrian, Cardinal-priest of Lucina, 0, ix. 

Adrian, notary, 0, ix 

Athelftan, King of England, A , IV, xvii 

Alberic, Marquess of Spoleto, A , II, xlviii 

Alberic, Prince of Rome, A , III, xlv ; III, xlvi ; IV, iii ; V, iii ; 
Z, lxii 

Alda, wife of King Hugh, A , III, xx ; IV, xiii 
Alda, daughter of King Hugh, A t IV, iii 
Alexander the Great, Z, xxix 
Alexander, Byzantine Emperor, A , III, xxvi 
Ambrose, Count of Bergamo, A , I, xxiii 
Amedeus, Vassal of Berengar II, A 9 V, xviii 
Andrew, Apoftle, Z, lx 
Andrew, Treasurer, 0, ix, 

Andrew, Commander of the guard, A, VI, ii 
Anna, Prophetess, A , III, xxxvi 

279 



Index of Persons 

Anna, Midress of Pope John XII, 0, x 

Anscar, Marquess of Spoleto, A , II, lvi ; A , V, iii-viii 

Anscar, Marquess of Ivrea, A , I, xxxv 

Antony, Bishop of Brescia, A , V, xxix ; X , xxxviii 

Arcod, Vassal of Anscar, A, V, vi 

Arderic, Archbishop of Milan, A, V, xxvii 

Arnold, Duke of Bavaria, A , II, xix; II, xxi ; III, xlix ; III, li 

Arnulf, Emperor of Germany, A , I, fassim 

Attila, King of the Huns, A , III, vi 

Azo, Notary, 0, ix 

Azo, Cleric, 0, ix 

Basil I, Byzantine Emperor, A , I, viii-x ; III, xxxii-xxxiv 

Basil II, Byzantine Emperor, X , xli, li 

Basil, Chamberlain, X, xv 

Benadab, King of Syria, A, V, xvii 

Benedict V, Pope, 0, vii ; x ; xiv ; xxii 

Benedict, Cardinal-archdeacon, 0, ix; xxii 

Benedid, Cardinal-priest of Sixtus, 0, ix 

Benedid, Bishop of Porto, 0, ix 

Benedid, Spiritual father of Pope John XII, 0, x 

Benedid, Subdeacon of offertories, 0, ix 

Benedid, Subdeacon and deward, 0, ix 

Benedid, Notary, 0, ix. 

Benedid, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Benedid, Roman cleric, 0, ix 

Berengar I, Emperor of Italy, A, I ; A , II, 

Berengar II, Marquess of Ivrea and King of Italy, A, II, xxxiii 
II, lvi ; III, i ; IV, viii ; V, iv ; V, x-xii ; V, xviii ; V, xxvi-xxxii 
VI, ii-vi ; 0, i-iii ; v-vi ; xv ; X, iv ; v ; lv 
Berta, Daughter of Lothair II, A , I, xxxix ; II, lv-lvi ; III, xviii 
Berta, Daughter of Bruchard, wife of King Hugh, A , II, lx ; IV, xiii 
Berta, Daughter of King Hugh, A , V, xx 
Berta, Daughter of Boso, A , IV, xi ; V, xxxi 
Bertald, Duke of Bavaria, A , IV, xxxi 
Boethius, Philosopher, A , I, i 
Bojan, Son of Simeon of Bulgaria, A , III, xxix 
Boneface, Marquess of Camerino, A , I, xxi ; II, Ixvi 
Bonofil, Cardinal deacon, 0, ix 
Boso, Marquess of Tuscany, A , III, Ixvii ; IV, xi 
Boso, Count of Arles, A , V, xxxi 
Boso, Bishop of Piacenza, A , IV, xiv 
Bruchard, Duke of Swabia, A, II, lx ; III, xiii-xv 

280 



Index of Persons 

Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne, A, IV, xv 
Bugat, King of the Hungarians, A , II, lxi 
Bulgamin, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Charlemagne, A , II, xxvi ; V, xxx 
Charles III, Emperor, A , I, xv 
Catiline, A , III, xxxix 

Centebald, Duke of the Maravani, A, I, v; I, xiii 
Centebald, Son of Arnulf, A , I, xx-xxi 

Christopher, Byzantine Emperor, A } III, xxxvii-xxxviii ; L , xvi, 
xix 

Christopher, Byzantine official, Z, xlvi 
Conrad, King of the Franks, A y II, xvii-xxiv 
Conrad the Wise, A , IV, xxix 
Conrad, Bishop of Lucca, 0, ix 
Cicero, A , I, i ; III, xxxix 
Cona, Son of Berengar II, Z, xxx 
ConStantine the Great, A, I, vi ; IV, xxv ; Z, xvii ; li ; lxii 
ConStantine VII Porphyrogenitus, Byzantine Emperor, A , I, v 
I, vi ; II, xlv ; III, xxvi ; III, xxxvii ; V, xxii-xxiv ; VI, ii-x 
ConStantine, Son of Romanos, A , III, xxxvii ; V, xiv ; V, xxii- 
xxiv 

ConStantine VIII, Byzantine Emperor, Z, lxi 
Crescenti, Roman magnate, 0, ix 
Croesus, Z, xlviii 

David, King of Israel, A , II, xlii ; IV, xxix ; V, xxx 

Demetrius, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Demetrius, Roman cleric, 0, ix 

Diavolinus, Byzantine soldier, A , V, xxii 

Dominic, Cardinal prieft of AnaStasia, 0, ix 

Dominic, Ambassador, Z, xxxi 

Dominic, Chaplain, A , V, xxxii 

Dursac, King of the Hungarians, A , II, lxi 

Edith, Wife of Otto I, A , IV, xvii 
Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia, Z, xxii 

Ermengarde, Daughter of Adalbert of Tuscany, A , II, lvi ; III, vii-xi 
IV, viii ; V, iv 

Eutychius, Patriarch of Constantinople, Z, xxii 
Everard, Count, A y II, xviii ; IV, xxix-xxx 
Everard, Bishop of Arezzo, 0, ix 

281 



Index of Persons 

Flambert, Vassal of Ingelfred, A , II, lxviii-lxxiii 
Focas, Byzantine general, A , III, xxvii-xxviii 
Formosus, Pope, A , I, xviii-xxxi 
Frederick, Archbishop of Maintz, A , IV, xxxii-xxxiii 

Gariard, Count, J, II, lxvi 

Gezo, Judge at Pavia, A , III, xxxix-xli 

Gezo, Bishop of Tortona, 0, xiv 

Girberga, Daughter of Berengar II, A , V, xxxii 

Gisla, Daughter of Berengar I, A , II, xxxiii ; A , II, lvi ; V. iv 

Gisla, Daughter of Berengar II, A , V, xxxii 

Gisla, Daughter of Boso, A, IV, xi 

Gislebert, Duke of Lorraine, A , II, xviii ; IV, xxi-xxix 

Gislebert, Count of Bergamo, A , II, lxi-lxiv ; III, xxxix 

Gregory the Great, Z, xxii 

Gregory, Bishop of Albano, 0, ix 

Grimizo, Vassal of Adalbert, Z, xxix 

Hannibal, A , I, i 
Hasdrubal, A , I, i 

Hatto, Archbishop of Maintz, A , II, vi 
Hatto, Count, V, viii 

Henry I, King of Saxony, A , II, xviii-xxxi ; III, xxi ; III, xlviii 
IV, xv ; IV, xxv 

Henry, Son of Henry I, A , IV, xviii-xxiv ; IV, xxxii-xxxv 

Henry, Archbishop of Tr&ves, 0, xiv 

Helena, Daughter of Romanos I, A , III, xxx ; V, xx 

Helena, Mother of Constantine the Great, A , IV, xxv 

Hermann, Duke of Swabia, A , IV, xxiii ; IV, xxix ; V, i ; V, xii 

Hermagoras, Disciple of S. Mark, A , III, v 

Hermenald, Bishop of Reggio, 0, ix 

Herod, King of Judsea, A, IV, xxv ; V. xvii 

Herodias, A, IV, xliv 

Hippolytus, Bishop of Sicily, Z, xl-xli 

Holofernes, A , III, xi 

Horace, A> III, xxviii 

Hubald, Father of Boneface, A , I, xxi 

Hubert, Prince of Tuscany, A , III, xx 

Hugh, Count of Arles, King of Italy, A , III, passim ; A , IV, ii-xiv 
V, passim 

Hugh, Son of Manfred, I, xlii 

Igor (Inger), King of Russia, A , V, xv 
Ildeprand, Count, A , I, xl-xli 


282 



Index of Persons 

Ildoin, Bishop of Verona, A , III, xiii 
Ingelfred, Patriarch of Aquileia, O, ix 
Ita, Daughter of Hermann, A, V, i 

Jezebel, A , III, i 

Job, A , III, xv 

John the Baptist, A , xliv 

John, Apostle, A , I, xiii ; iv, xxvi 

John Chrysostom, L , xxix 

John X, Pope, A, II, xlvii-liv ; III, xvii ; III, xliii 

John XI, Pope, A , II, xlviii ; III, xliii ; III, xlvi 

John XII, Pope, 0, passim 

John XIII, Pope, 0, vii ; ix ; L, xlvii ; 1 

John, Cardinal prieft of Caecilia, 0, ix 

John, Cardinal prieSt of Equitius, 0, ix 

John, Cardinal prieSt of Susanna, 0, ix 

John, Cardinal deacon, 0, i, vi, ix, xx 

John, Cardinal subdeacon, O, x 

John, Bishop of Anagni, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of Veroli, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of San Liberato, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of Gallese, O, ix 

John, Bishop of Nepi, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of Norma, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of Pavia, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of Piftoia, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of Sabina, 0, ix 

John, Bishop of Tivoli, 0, ix 

John Mizina, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

John de Primicerio, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Joseph, Bishop of Brescia, A , V, xxix 

Judas Iscariot, A > I, xxx ; II, lxx ; I, xiv 

Judas Maccabeus, A t IV, xxvii 

Julian the Apo&ate, A , III, xxix ; IV, vii 

Julius Caesar, A> I, i ; I, xxvi 

Juno, A , III, xli; IV, xiv 

Jupiter, A , III, xli; O, x 

Justinian, Z, v 

Lambert, Emperor of Italy, A , I, xxxviii-xliv 
Lambert, Son of Adalbert of Tuscany, A , II, lvi ; III, xliii ; III, xlvii ; 
IV, xi 

Lampert, Archbishop of Milan, A , II, Iviii ; III, xii ; III, xiv ; III, xiii 

283 



Index of Persons 

Landohard, Bishop of Minden, 0, ix 

Landulf I, Prince of Benevento, A , II, li ; IV, ix 

Leo VI, Byzantine Emperor, A , I, vi ; I, xi-xii ; II, xlv ; III, xxv-xxvi 

Leo VIII, Pope, 0, vi, xvi, xxii 

Leo, Cardinal prie£t of Balbina, 0, ix 

Leo, Bishop of Pavia, A , III, xli 

Leo, Bishop of Velletri, 0, ix 

Leo, Head of the school of singers, 0, ix 

Leo, Notary, 0, ix 

Leo, Brother of Nicephorus, X, passim 

Leo, Vassal of Adalbert, A , II, lxii 

Leo de Cazunuli, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Liudprand, A, I, i ; 0, i, vii, ix, xi ; X, i 

Liutefred, Bishop of Pavia, A , v, xxx 

Liutefred, Merchant, A , VI, iv 

Liutulf, Son of Otto I, A , IV, xvii ; V, i 

Louis II (Ludovic, Ludwig), Son of Lothair I, X , vii 

Louis III, Son of Boso, A, II, xxxii-xli 

Louis the Child, A> II, i ; II, vi ; II, xvii 

Lothair, Son of King Hugo, A , III, xx ; IV, ii ; IV, xiii ; V, x ; 

V, xxviii; VI, ii 
Lucian, A , I, xii 

Matilda, wife of Henry I, A , IV, xv 
Maginfred, Count of Milan, A , I, xxxix-xlii 
Manasses, Archbishop of Milan, A , IV, vi-vii ; V, xxvi 
Manuel, Byzantine patrician, X , xliii 
Marinus, Bishop of Sutri, 0, ix 

Marozia, Daughter of Theophylaft, A , II, xlviii ; III, xviii ; III, 
xliv-xlv 

Michael, Archangel, I, x ; III, xxxiv ; III, xlv 
Michael III, Byzantine Emperor, A , I, viii-x ; III, xxxii-xxxiv 
Michael of the Chersonese, L , lxiv 
Michael of Constantinople, X, lxv. 

Milo, Count of Verona, A> II, lxxiii ; III, xlviii-li ; V, xxvii 
Moses, A , III, xliv; IV, xxiv 

Nicephorus, Byzantine Emperor, X, fassim 

Oddo, King of France, A , I, xv-xvi 
Odelric, Count of the Palace, A , II, lviii-lix 
Otbert, Marquess, 0, i 
Otker, Archbishop of Spires, 0, ix 

284 



Index of Persons 

Otto, Duke of Saxony, A , I, xxiv 

Otto I, Emperor, A , I, v ; I, xxiv ; IV, xvi-xxxv ; V. i ; V, xii-xiii ; 

VI, vi ; 0, passim : X, passim 
Otto II, son of Otto I, 0, ii, viii, xxii ; X. passim 

Paul, Apoftle, A , II, liv ; V, xvii ; 0, i ; X, lxii 

Peter, Apostle, II, liv ; V, xvii ; 0, i ; X, lxii 

Peter, King of Bulgaria, A , III, xxix ; III, xxxviii ; X , xvi, xix 

Peter, Cardinal priest of Damasus, 0, ix 

Peter, Cardinal prieft of Pamachius, 0, ix 

Peter, Archbishop of Ravenna, 0, ix 

Peter, Bishop of Bologna, A , II, xlviii 

Peter, Bishop of Camerino, 0, ix 

Peter, Bishop of Como, A , III, xxxviii 

Peter, Roman Plebeian, 0, ix 

Perzola, Mistress of King Hugh, A , IV, xiv; V, xx 
Plato, X, xxvi 

Polyeudtus, Patriarch of Constantinople, X, lxii 
Pompey the Great, A y I, i ; I, xxvi 

Radamir, King of Galicia, A , V, ii 
Raimund, Prince of Aquitania, A , V, xxxi 
Rather, Bishop of Verona, A , III, xlii ; III, liii 
Racemund, Bishop of Elvira, A> I, i 
Richilda, Daughter of Bozo of Tuscany, A , IV, xi 
Rihkard, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Romanos I, Byzantine Emperor, A , II, xlv ; III, xxii-xxxviii ; V, 
xiv-xxv; X, vii 

Romanos II, Byzantine Emperor, A , V, xiv-xxv 
Romanus, Bishop of Ferentino, 0, ix 
Roza, Mistress of King Hugh, A , III, xxxix ; IV, xiv 
Rodulf, King of Burgundy and Italy, A , II, Ix-lxvii ; III, ii ; III, 
viii-xvi ; III, xlviii ; IV, xiii 

Sabbatinus, Bishop of Terracina, 0, ix 
Salard, Hungarian chief, A , III, ii 
Solomon, King of Judaea, A, I, i 
Solomon, Byzantine eunuch, A , VI, iv 
Samson, Count, A, III, xli ; IV, xxv 
Sarlio, Marquess of Camerino, A y V, v-viii 
Scipio, A y I, i 

Sergius III, Pope, A, I, xxx, xxxi; II, xlviii; III, xliii 
Sergius, Chief warden, 0, ix 


285 



Index of Persons 

Sico, Bishop of Bieda, 0, ix 
Sico, Bishop of Oftia, 0, ix 
Sigefrid, Bishop of Parma, A , V, xx-xxi 
Sigulf, Bishop of Piacenza, 0, xiv 

Simeon, King of Bulgaria, A, I, v ; III, xxvii ; III, xxix ; III, xxxviii 

Simeon, Byzantine official, Z , xix 

Stephana, Miftress of Pope John XII, 0, iv 

Stephania, Mistress of Pope John XII, 0, iv 

Stephen, Son of Romanos I, A, III, xxxvii ; A, V, xxi-xxv 

Stephen, Cardinal archpriest of Nereus, 0, ix % 

Stephen, Cardinal prieSt of Sabina, 0, ix 

Stephen, Bishop of Cervetri, 0, ix 

Stephen, Notary, 0, ix 

Stephen de Iniza, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Stephen, archacolyte, 0, ix 

Taxis, King of Hungary, A> V, xxxiii 

Tedbald (Theobald), Marquess of Camerino, A , IV, ix ; V, iv 

Tedbald, Son of King Hugh, A , iv, xiv 

Terence, A , II, lix ; Z , lviii 

Teudin, Vassal of King Hugh, A , III, xlvii 

Theodora, Wife of Theophyladi, A, 11, xlviii 

Theodora, Daughter of Theophyladi, A , II, xlviii 

Theodore de Rufina, Roman magnate, 0, ix 

Theophana, Wife of Romanos I, Z , vii 

TheophylaSt, Cardinal prieft of Chrysogonus, 0, ix 

Theophyladf, Cardinal prieSt of Four Saints, 0, ix 

Theophyla£t, Son of Romanos I, L , lxii 

Thomas, Apostle, A, IV, xxvi 

Ulysses, A , V, xviii ; Z, iii 
Urso, Roman cleric, 0, ix 

Valentian III, Roman Emperor, Z, v 

Vegetius, Military writer, A , IV, xx 

Venus, A , I, xi ; II, xlviii ; III, xliv ; IV, xiv ; O, x 

Virgil, I, xxxii; I, xxxv ; III, ix ; III, xvi 

Vulcan, A , II, iv ; III, iii 

Waldo, Bishop of Como, A , V, xxix ; 0, i 
Waldpert, Archbishop of Milan, 0, i, ix. 

Waldrada, Wife of Boneface, ^,11, lxvi 
Walpert, Judge at Pavia, A , iii, xxxix-xli 

286 



Index of Persons 

Wido (Guido, Guy), Emperor of Italy 

Wido, Marquess of Tuscany, J, I, v ; I, xiv-xxxvii 

Wido, Bishop of Modena, A , v, xxvii 

Wido, Bishop of Piacenza, A, II, Ixv 

Wido, Bishop of Selva, 0, ix 

Wikbert, Vassal of Anscar, A , V, vi-vii 

Willa, Wife of Boso, A , IV, xi-xii 

Willa, Wife of Berengar II, A , III, i; IV, viii ; IV, xi; V, x-xi ; 
V, xxxii; 0, i, vi 

Zacheus, Bishop, 0, vi 

Ztfe, Wife of Leo VI, A , III, xxvi 


287 




®f)e pfroabtoap 
Jflebtebal Htbrarp 


Edited by G. G. COULTON 
and EILEEN POWER 



Published by 

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LTD. 

BROADWAY HOUSE, CARTER LANE, LONDON, EX.4 




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®jje ZSJnconqueretr l^ntgfjt. By his standard-bearer, 
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(©Ottoman of ipartg (Le M6nagier de Paris), 
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Wfyt Btalogue on ifltracleS, 1220=35. B 7 Caesarius 

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Wbt iHutofriograpftp of <^us»ama, 10954X88. 

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** I commend this book to everybody who wishes to improve the relations 
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g»tr Lancelot of tf)e Hafee : a French Prose Romance 
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Wbt TOtodtsi of Htubpranb of Cremona. Translated, 

with an Introduction, by F . A . Wright , Professor of 
Classics in the University of London. 

Demy 8 vo, about i or. 6d . net. 

Liudprand, Bishop of Cremona, traveller, diplomat, historian, and poet, is 
one of the most fascinating of medieval authors. There is no one near him 
in his gift of pure mischief. In spite of this Liudprand is little known, and 
this volume contains the first English translation of his chief work, the history 
of his own times which he called Jntapodosis (Tit-for-Tat), together with 
the Gesta Ottonis , and his wonderful account of his embassy to Constantinople, 
a masterpiece of satirical observation. 

little Sfofm of &aintre. By Antoine de La Sale. 
Translated, with an Introduction, by Irvine Gray , late 
Scholar of Jesus College, Cambridge. 

Illustrated , demy 8 vo, about los. 6d . net. 

The vision splendid of Chivalry was already fading when this romance was 
written. Its author had been tutor to the son of “ good king ” of 
Anjou, and his book was intended as a model of courtly breeding. To this 
and to La Sale’s naivetS we owe the wealth of intimate detail which makes tbs 
book an invaluable source of information about fifteenth century court lie 






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